Missing Pieces
by lkacey
Summary: There had to be more between Shane and Mitchie for Shane to feel so upset and betrayed by Mitchie's actions. This fills in the missing scenes during the movie, and extends beyond its ending. Smitchie, eventual Naitlyn. RATING CHANGED TO M: mature themes.
1. Keep It Real, Keep It Simple

**Disclaimer for entire story:** nothing at all recognizable is mine, except any original characters and the plot line.

Picks up directly from Mitchie & Shane's conversation in the canoe, and continues on from there. Includes everything from the movie, but fills in the missing time in between, and continues afterward.

* * * first few lines in italics are NOT mine; they've been taken directly from the movie "Camp Rock" as a reference for the starting point of the story * * *

* * *

_Shane: It must be the same for you too huh? Because of your mom and her job at Hot Tunes, people are probably always fake around you._

_Mitchie: Uh, yeah, right. Totally._

_Shane: You know, it's nice talking to someone who gets it._

_Mitchie: Yeah. You too._

There was silence for a moment, and Mitchie wracked her brain, trying to come up with something to say to get them off of this topic. Her eyes lit up as she landed on something she knew would set Shane off in a completely different direction. "So I thought I was going to have a song sung for me?" she asked with a smile.

"Oh, so that's the only reason you came out here?" Shane asked, his face falling in pretend disappointment.

"Pretty much," Mitchie said with a grim expression. "You were being all suave about needing me to tell you if your voice sounds better over here. So prove it, hot shot."

"Ooh, bringing out the big words now," Shane said, a smile creeping onto his face. "Alright," he nodded, "but it's going to be a little hard to do, considering I have no lyrics yet."

Mitchie rolled her eyes. "So you lure me out here with the promise of hearing an original song, and then you back out?" She shook her head. "Gotta say, not too impressed right now," she crossed her arms, but her smile betrayed her angry words.

Shane rolled his eyes right back at her. "Come on," he said. "Isn't a guy allowed to have a few problems while writing his next hit single?"

"Wow," Mitchie said, dropping all pretenses of being angry in favour of her laughter. "That's not assuming much, is it?"

Shane smiled. "I was joking," he admitted. His face lost its humourous look, and he looked down toward the bottom of the canoe. "I think the reason I don't have the lyrics yet is because I'm worried about this being a flop. It's… different than our usual sound."

"But that's what you said you wanted, right?" Mitchie asked, fully invested in the conversation about his music. She liked the way that he talked to her about his music and his feelings on where it was taking him, because it made him seem less like the arrogant jerk she'd heard so much about and more like a regular guy who was unsure of himself. Mitchie realized that maybe he did have that clue after all.

"Well, yeah, of course I want to sing the songs that make me happy," Shane said. "But it's hard to put my soul on the line like that when everything Connect 3 is known for is the typical pop stuff."

"That song you sung me the other day was amazing, Shane," Mitchie said, trying to reinforce what she'd told him before. "You said it wasn't finished, but it should be; it's great the way it is. And if the one you're trying to write now is anywhere near as good as that, you've got the beginnings of another guaranteed platinum album on your hands."

"Thanks," Shane said, a slight redness making itself known on his face. He'd put a lot into the song 'Gotta Find You'. It was fueled by his passion to find that girl with a voice, but it could be taken as a metaphor for so much more. It made him happy to know that someone else enjoyed the personal element he was starting to feel he needed to add to his lyrics. "You heard a little of the music for this song, right?" he asked.

Mitchie nodded. "A little, yeah. You were playing it when I walked up."

"It's also the one I was playing that day we talked on the dock."

"Talked? You mean when you went all egotistical celebrity and bit my head off just for walking past you?"

"Well that's the one that needs to have the lyrics written," Shane said, ignoring her jibe at him.

"You don't have any idea what you want it to be about?" Mitchie asked. "You don't have any lyrics written for it yet at all?" She found this hard to believe; with the amount that she'd seen Shane either playing his guitar around the camp or carrying it around, she had to figure he'd been working on his music at every available opportunity. Which, considering he was only instructing a few classes at a summer camp, should have resulted in a lot of free time.

"Not really," Shane said, not quite meeting Mitchie's eyes. When she didn't answer, he looked up and caught the look she was giving him. "Okay, so I have a few lines written," he admitted. He grew defensive as she rolled her eyes at him again. "Hey! I just don't know how to fit them in."

Mitchie pondered that for a second. "And what do you want the song to be about?"

Shane thought for a moment, before answering with surety, "I've started to find my love for music again, and I'm beginning to realize it doesn't have anything to do with the perks I get from doing it. I want the song to be about getting that connection back, and how nothing else really matters."

"Sounds like you've got a pretty decent base for the lyrics right there," Mitchie said, leaning forward to put her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands. "The music's more upbeat than 'Gotta Find You' is, if I remember correctly, and you want to sing about how badly you want to play, and how much it means to you to get back to the simplicity of it all. It sounds to me like it's coming from your heart and soul, Shane, and if you just think on it, I'm sure you'll come up with a great way to say it."

Shane just looked at her, amazed. "Sounds like you understand the process."

Mitchie gave a small smile. "I guess you could say I've messed around with writing songs before," she admitted. "It's like a therapy for me; I write what I feel at the time, and I know that, for me, the words come right from my heart. So if you do the same thing, you'll be fine. I know it."

"I'd love to hear one of yours sometime," Shane said.

"Well," Mitchie said, sitting up straight again. "That's a privilege few get."

"Um, you're in a canoe listening to Shane Gray talk about his song lyrics with you. And you want to talk about privileges?" Shane said teasingly, as if that were the best possible thing imaginable.

"Pretty high opinion of yourself, don't you think?" Mitchie said, catching on to his self-mocking tone.

Shane held up his hands and shook his head. "Hey, I'm only basing it off of what I know about myself." He paused. "Based off of what I've _read_ about myself, of course," he added with a smile.

Mitchie laughed. "Well, there is definitely no shortage of information about you floating around in the media." She liked that they were able to do this, this bantering thing. She also liked that Shane was able to make fun of his image, because it showed that he understood there were problems with acting the way he was portrayed. And, if she allowed herself to admit it, she also liked the way Shane made her feel when he shot that adorable smile her way. She shook the thoughts from her head, and came back to reality just in time to hear Shane's answer.

"I know, I like to read about what I've been up to in the nightly paper with my supper," Shane joked.

"Oh, my God! What time is it?" Mitchie asked suddenly, her eyes growing round.

Shane looked down at his watch. "Umm, about quarter to four. Why?" he asked, glancing back up at her.

"I'm supposed to be at practice for Final Jam! Tess is going to _kill_ me," she moaned, throwing her head back and leaning back on her arms.

Shane smiled. "Can't piss off the princess," he said sarcastically.

Mitchie rolled her head back around to the front and raised an eyebrow. "I'd love to dissect your tone, but unfortunately, I have to get back to shore." She paused. "That's _if_ you can manage to figure out how to help me paddle us back." She grinned and reached for her paddle.

Shane opened his mouth in mock surprise. "Ugh," he scoffed, dipping his paddle into the water and splashing Mitchie with it. "Who's the jerk now?"

Laughing, Mitchie unsuccessfully tried to shield herself from the water she was being bombarded with by Shane. "Um, considering how uncalled for _this_ is, still you," she said with an attitude and a smirk.

Shane just laughed and stopped his splashing. "Okay, okay; I'll stop. Let's get you back," and with that, he dipped the paddle back in the water and began to expertly guide their canoe back towards the beach.

As they hit land and Shane jumped out of the canoe and pulled it on shore, Mitchie raised her eyebrow. "Pro paddler much?" she questioned, accepting his offered hand to help her out of the canoe.

Shane grinned at her. "There's a lot you don't know about me, Mitchie Torres," he said, trying to be mysterious.

"If you're trying to be mysterious so I'll stay and ask questions, it's working," Mitchie grinned, before her voice turned somber. "If it weren't for Tess, that is," she added.

"Bit presumptive of you, thinking I want you to stay, isn't it?" Shane bantered.

"Well, if I read the signals wrong, I'll just be going," Mitchie nodded her head, and turned around, hiding her smile as she started to walk away from him.

"And now you're playing unfair," Shane smiled as he caught her arm and spun her back around to face him. He looked into her eyes for a second before turning serious. "I had a lot of fun this afternoon, Mitchie. Thanks for listening to my song," he paused. "And my rants."

Mitchie laughed. "Everyone needs an outlet," she said, before she too turned serious. "But that song, Shane? That song is going to be amazing. It was my privilege to listen to it," and with that, she mock bowed down to him, making them both laugh again.

They started walking up towards the cottages in companionable silence. As they reached the fork in the path where they would go their separate ways, Shane turned to Mitchie. "Can we do this again?" he asked.

"What, paddle out to the middle of the lake and pretend that you suck so much you can't get us back?" Mitchie grinned, poking him in the chest.

"Ow," Shane gasped as he pretended he was hurt by that. "Your words hurt almost as much as your hands."

Mitchie smiled. "Yeah, I'd like that," she answered, referring to his original question. "It's too bad I have practice, because I was having a lot of fun, too."

"Well…what are you doing tonight?" Shane asked, raising his eyebrows at her.

"I'm pretty open after eight," Mitchie answered, thinking of helping her mother in the kitchen after supper. "Unless Tess pulls me into another practice," she rolled her eyes.

"Well make sure she doesn't."

Mitchie raised her eyebrows back at him. "Why? Do I have plans?"

"You sure do," Shane answered, nodding his head with a smile on his face.

"Ooh, right! I was supposed to meet Caitlyn for a walk! Thanks for reminding me," she grinned, and pretended to leave up the path to her cabin.

Shane rolled his eyes and laughed. "Do you want to hang out with me or not?"

Mitchie turned around, hands crossed over her chest. "Who's being presumptive now?" she said, mocking his earlier words.

"Hey, I just thought we had fun today is all," Shane said, mistaking her attitude as serious instead of the joke she meant it as. "It's nice to be around someone normal," he said softly, looking down towards the water again.

"Hey, Shane, I was just joking," Mitchie said seriously as she uncrossed her arms and moved back towards him. "I'm definitely up for hanging out later."

"Yeah?" Shane asked.

"As long as you're not a jerk to me anymore," Mitchie said, and this time she knew Shane knew she was joking.

"Can't make any promises, babe," he said in a British accent, a playful smile on his lips as he backed away from her up the path to the food hall. "It _is_ a part of the rock star image after all."

Mitchie rolled her eyes, and moved up the path towards the cabins as she yelled, "Fine, rock star, I'll see you at eight."

She'd just begun to wonder where on earth she was supposed to meet him, when she heard a voice yell through the woods, "By the lake! Dress warm!"

Mitchie didn't answer. She simply smiled to herself as she hurried towards her cabin before Tess flipped out at her for being late.

* * *

A/N: Okay, this was started literally the day after the movie first aired, and a lot of it has been written for a long time now. It's just taken me a while to psych myself up to post it, but know that it's going to be a long one! Sorry if the idea's been done!

Please review :)


	2. Just A Clock To Beat & A Hand to Choose

*Chapter 2: Just the Clock To Beat and a Hand to Choose*

* * *

After dinner, Mitchie spent a couple of hours helping her mother in the kitchen as she'd planned. She and Caitlyn had fun with Connie, talking amongst themselves about camp gossip and life in general. Eventually, Connie and her staff finished their work, and she kissed Mitchie goodnight and waved to Caitlyn as she left.

"What are you up to tonight?" Caitlyn asked as she and Mitchie finished putting away the clean dishes.

"I'm not really sure," Mitchie said, a slight smile on her face.

"Okay, quit being so mysterious," Caitlyn laughed, leaning back against the counter to look at Mitchie.

"I'm being honest!" Mitchie laughed, as she reached up high to put a bowl in a cupboard. "All I know is Shane told me to meet him at eight," she said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Shane?" Caitlyn practically screeched. "Shane? As in, _Shane_ Shane? Shane Gray, rock star, asshole, 'bout yay high?" she added, raising her hand above her head.

"That's the one," Mitchie laughed, moving towards the counter to grab more dishes.

Caitlyn reached out and grabbed her arm. "Umm, _how_ are you being so casual about this?" she asked. "That boy avoids campers like the plague, and you're telling me you're hanging out with him tonight?"

Mitchie sighed, leaning back against the counter too. "I don't know," she said with a shrug. "We've talked a little a few times before this, and I kind of accidentally ended up spending this afternoon with him. I had to leave for Final Jam practice, so he suggested hanging out tonight instead."

Caitlyn raised her eyebrows. "And you didn't think this was important information to tell me?" she said disbelievingly.

Mitchie shrugged her shoulders in defeat. "Look, it's nothing, okay?" she sighed, running a hand through her hair. "He's just fun to hang out with, and he's different than any other guy I've ever met."

"Umm, yeah … he's a rock star," Caitlyn said, looking at Mitchie like she'd lost her mind.

"But that's just it," Mitchie said, shaking her head. "I can't figure it out, but it's like he's completely different than anything I've ever heard about him in the press. He's just easy to talk to," she finished lamely, looking at Caitlyn with another small shrug.

Caitlyn sighed. "One," she began, "I'm so jealous of you it's ridiculous," she grinned. "And two, I hope you guys have fun." She ended with a smile.

Mitchie raised an eyebrow. "You're not mad at me for not telling you?" Caitlyn shook her head. "Not that I even thought there was anything to tell. It's not like I was hiding something–"

"You mean, nothing like the little 'my mom's president of Hot Tunes TV China' lie?" Caitlyn said sarcastically, grabbing a dish towel and flicking Mitchie with it.

"Yeah, like that one," Mitchie agreed, nodding her head with a smile on her face. "Anyway, we talk a lot about music. I like his ideas, and I think he likes the feedback I can give him."

Caitlyn nodded. "Well, you're definitely a talent I'd bounce ideas off of too, so I can understand that." She paused. "What time are you supposed to meet him again?"

"Eight," Mitchie said absently, as she put more of the dishes away; the pile was quickly dwindling.

"You do realize it's seven forty-five, right?" Caitlyn asked, eyebrows raised.

Mitchie groaned. "_Why_ am I always running out of time today?" she asked rhetorically, as she practically threw the dishes into the cupboard.

Caitlyn laughed, and grabbed the remainder of the dishes. "You go, I'll finish up here," she said.

"Are you sure?" Mitchie asked, turning hopeful eyes toward Caitlyn.

"Yes," Caitlyn rolled her eyes in mock annoyance, but she shot a grin at Mitchie. "You need the time; I don't think you want to hang out with Shane Gray looking like that."

Mitchie glanced down at her food-covered, soaking wet apron and the same clothes she'd been wearing all day. "Yeah, this doesn't exactly fit the 'dress warm' instructions he gave me," she smiled.

"So go!" Caitlyn said, shooing her out of the kitchen.

Mitchie grinned as she whipped the apron over her head and hung it on the rack on the way out the back door of the kitchen. "Thanks, Caitlyn! I owe you!" she yelled as she passed through the door.

"Just have fun!" she heard her scream back, but she'd already run too far down the path to answer.

Entering her cabin, Mitchie found Peggy lying on her bed reading a magazine, but Tess and Ella were nowhere in sight.

"Hey, Peggy," Mitchie said breathlessly as she made her way towards her bed and began digging through her clothes in her dresser.

"Hey, Mitchie," Peggy responded, glancing up at the mess Mitchie was making. "What are you in such a rush for?"

"Just said I'd meet someone at eight," Mitchie said absently. Finally finding a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and a cute but warm hoodie, she began to change.

"Oh, that's cool. Who are you hanging out with?" Peggy asked curiously.

"Oh, um, Caitlyn," Mitchie stammered out. She knew her face had a guilty look on it, but while Peggy would think it was because she was hanging out with someone not approved by Tess, Mitchie really felt bad because she was lying. She didn't know why, but she just didn't feel as comfortable telling Peggy about hanging out with Shane. Caitlyn had made a big deal, but she trusted her and knew she wouldn't make a fuss about it to anyone else. Peggy, on the other hand, would have told Tess and Ella, and the entire camp would have been questioning it by the end of the night. Mitchie had enjoyed the time she'd spent with Shane that afternoon; she thought she'd been privileged to a side of him few were, and she wanted to see where that could take her before she shared it.

She was pulled out of her thoughts in surprise when she heard Peggy answer simply, "Good." She paused. "Tess wouldn't agree, but I think it's good that you're branching out. Don't make the same mistakes some of us have," she finished quietly, but Mitchie heard it, and awkwardly turned to face her as she finished pulling the hoodie over her head.

"You know you're welcome to hang out with us any time, right?" she asked seriously.

Peggy smiled sadly. "My ship sailed a long time ago. You still have a shot at getting out of this. Your rep isn't set yet."

Mitchie shook her head. "Be who you are, Peggy, and be friends with who you want to be friends with. You'll drive yourself crazy otherwise," she added, leaning over to tie her sneaker.

Instead of responding, Peggy just turned her head to look out the window, appearing deep in thought. Glancing at her watch and seeing that she was close to being late, Mitchie said a quiet goodbye to her and headed out of the cabin. She paused at the door, asking, "Where are Tess and Ella, anyway?"

"They're at the dock," Peggy answered absently, as she picked up her magazine again. "They went for a swim, but I told them I wasn't feeling well."

"Well, I hope you feel better," Mitchie said, as she opened the door and began walking down the stairs.

"I feel fine," she heard Peggy say quietly behind her, but she didn't know how to respond, so she kept moving down the stairs.

As Mitchie walked down the path towards the beach, she realized she should have taken her own advice. If only she'd just been herself, she wouldn't have gotten herself into such a deep lie about her mother's job, and she'd be able to do what she wanted. Most of the time, she felt as though Tess was in control of her. Sure, she stood up to Tess occasionally, but the lure of popularity had drawn her in and kept her there, despite the way she'd been treated. She sighed as she reached the beach, and sat down where the edge of the trees met the top of the sand line, looking at the dock some ways away. She could make out Tess and Ella perching on top, hanging out amidst a flock of wannabes. All she wanted at that moment was to be herself; to be able to sing on her own in Final Jam instead of as one of Tess's backup singers.

She was startled out of her thoughts as hands came down over her eyes and her vision turned black.

"Zoned out a little, eh?" she heard a laughing voice say, and she relaxed her tense posture as she realized it was Shane.

"Didn't think I had to protect myself from being kidnapped," she said sarcastically, raising her eyebrows as her eyes were still covered.

"Everything okay?" Shane asked as he removed his hands from her eyes and crouched down beside her.

Mitchie nodded slowly. "Just doing some thinking," she smiled weakly. "Been realizing a few things lately."

"Anything you want to talk about?" he asked seriously, picking up on the sad look on her face and her effort at smiling.

Mitchie looked out at the lake for a second, before saying simply, "Nope." She grinned as she turned to him. "Take my mind off of it for a while?"

Shane grinned too as he stood up and offered his hand to help her up. "Let's go, then," he said.

"Where are we going?" Mitchie laughed as he pulled her to her feet. She leaned down and wiped the sand off of her pants, then looked back up at him. For the first time she realized what he was wearing. She cocked her eyebrow, crossed her arms, and said, "Well, well, trying to make a new fashion statement, are we?"

Shane rolled his eyes. He spread his arms wide, crossed his legs, and did a little spin for her, ending in a pose with his head thrown back. "I call it 'camp chic', what do you think?"

Mitchie was in fits of laughter at his display. "Oh, very trendy," she agreed, nodding her head as she finally caught her breath. She looked over his jeans that fit snug around his waist, but were otherwise much looser than his usual choice of pants, and his baggy black sweatshirt. "It's different for you, but I like it," she admitted.

"Thanks for your approval," Shane said sarcastically.

"No problem," she said with a smile thrown over her shoulder as she began walking down the beach.

"How do you even know where you're going?" Shane asked, his voice full of laughter as he watched her walk away from him.

"I don't," Mitchie admitted as she stopped and turned back toward him. "I was kind of putting my stock in you stopping me before I went in the wrong direction."

Shane raised his eyebrows as he moved toward her. "Putting a lot of faith in me, aren't you?"

"Heh," Mitchie scoffed. "You wish."

Shane only smiled in response as they kept walking. After a moment, Mitchie grew curious, and asked, "So where are we going, anyway?"

"Somewhere I used to love when I was a camper here," Shane answered.

"There you go with that mysterious thing again," Mitchie said.

Shane shrugged. "You can't say you don't love it."

"You just love to make things difficult, don't you?" Mitchie asked with a smile.

"Of course, haven't you been keeping up with the news?" Shane asked, and although Mitchie knew he meant it as a joke, she heard the bitter tone in his voice.

She stopped and reached out her arm to grab his. "You know I don't see you like that, don't you?"

Shane only shrugged again, saying, "Most people do." They both paused for a second, before he nodded his head in the direction of the dock. "Come on, let's get going."

Mitchie followed after him, and as they neared the dock, her eyes landed on Tess and her followers again. "Ugh," she breathed, rolling her eyes. "I forgot the queen was here."

Shane raised an eyebrow and turned to look at her. Following her gaze, an understanding look crossed his face. "Ah, yes, of course she'd be in the center of that flock of people, when we really need to get to the other side of the dock." He grinned at Mitchie. "Ready to be stealth?"

Mitchie grinned back at him, watching as he flipped up his hood to cover his head, and made sure it hung low enough to cover his face. He reached over and did the same with hers, as she responded smugly, "Stealth it is."

He grabbed her hand and together they snuck along the treeline behind the dock, and around to the left hand side of it. They darted away from the trees and across the vast amount of beach between the treeline and the dock. As they reached the side of the dock, Mitchie realized she had no idea what she was aiming for, so she let Shane drag her along to the water's edge. He dropped her hand as he waded underneath the dock, and unmoored a motor boat from one of the dock's legs. She glanced up to see Tess and the wannabes peering at them; she knew they could clearly be seen, despite their faces being covered, but she and Shane were having too much fun to care.

Shane started the motor, and Mitchie waded in to meet it. She hopped in with little effort, and Shane began to maneuver out from underneath the dock. As they came out on the side, they both made sure that their hoods covered their faces, as the group on top was looking on curiously.

As they began to pull away from the dock, they heard Tess shout, "Hey! What do you think you're doing? _No one's_ allowed to use that boat except employees! I'm going to make sure you're in trouble for this!" She paused. "Whoever you are!" she added for good measure.

Mitchie just raised her hand and waved goodbye, her face splitting into a wide grin underneath her hood.

She turned back toward Shane as she heard him mutter, "God, that girl just drives me." She giggled, and decided to let that one go.

It took a few minutes of them motoring across the lake for Tess's words to sink in, but eventually they did. "Wait, Shane, was Tess being serious? Will we get in trouble for using this?"

Shane smiled and threw back his hood, as they were now more than halfway across the lake and there was no way anyone on the dock would be able to see who they were. "You do realize I teach your hip hop class, right?" he grinned, watching Mitchie flip down her own hood to reveal a face that was quickly growing red with embarrassment.

"Yes," Mitchie said testily. "I just … forgot?" she finished lamely. "Hey!" she said, embarrassed at the humourous look Shane was giving her. "It's easy to forget this nice version of you is the same guy as the jerk who showed up the first day," she defended herself.

"Ooh, nice defense," Shane said sarcastically. "Got a cheap shot in there, too."

Mitchie smirked, leaning back on her arms. "I do what I can," she shrugged.

Shane just smiled and said, "I told Uncle Brown I wanted to get away for a while tonight. Even if Tess tells him someone took the boat, he's not going to admit it was me; he knows I do this to get away from the campers."

"You do realize that _I'm_ a camper, right?" Mitchie asked, rephrasing Shane's words from a moment before.

Shane just smiled, and looked toward the rapidly approaching shore on the other side of the lake. He drove the boat into the sand before jumping out and hauling it up onto the shore where it was safely away from the waterline. Mitchie hopped out after him, and he lead her toward the treeline.

"Planning to murder me?" Mitchie asked, warily looking at the darkness of the forest in front of her.

"Damn, got it in one," Shane admitted.

"Should I be creeped out right now?" Mitchie asked, semi-seriously.

"No. Trust me?"

Mitchie shrugged. "Depending how this goes, that remains to be seen."

Grabbing her hand, Shane grinned and started down a path that was just barely visible in the darkness. As they made their way through the trees, Shane felt the tension coming off of Mitchie. "Relax, okay? I've walked this path more than I've done anything else in my life."

"Really?" Mitchie found herself asking, despite her nervousness at being lead into the middle of a creepy, deserted forest in the fast-approaching pitch darkness.

She saw the back of Shane's head nod. "Yeah, my whole family used to work at the camp, and this was kind of like our place to get away from it for a while." She refrained from asking any more questions, and she soon noticed Shane was slowing down.

"We're here," he said, and she walked around in front of him to see that he'd lead her through the trees and out onto the small beach of an adjoining small lake on the side of the one they'd just crossed. There was a much-used fire pit there, and several logs for benches. The light was fading rapidly, and the moon was beginning to make its appearance. She thought the entire scene was beautiful, and wondered what Shane had been thinking when he'd thought of bringing her here. Her thoughts were interrupted again when she heard Shane's voice.

"I thought we could have a bonfire here," Shane said from where he'd moved by the pit. He was throwing wood into it, and continued, "There's some marshmallows stashed over there from the other night, if you want to grab them," he motioned toward a metal crate underneath one of the trees.

Mitchie walked over to it and opened the heavy lid, revealing marshmallows and a blanket inside. She grabbed the marshmallows and started back toward the fire Shane had managed to get started.

"The other night, huh?" she asked as she settled down on one of the benches. Shane was crouching directly in front of her, coaxing the fire along. "So is this where you take all the female campers?"

Shane turned his head and smirked at her. "Is that that jealousy thing again?" he teased.

"Jerk," she answered playfully.

Shane turned back toward the fire, and finished setting up the wood inside. He then leaned back against the bench Mitchie was sitting on, so that his back was directly beside her legs. "No, this is not where I take female campers," he finally answered her. "Uncle Brown's been trying to 'get me back to the kid I used to be', as he put it, so we've come over here a few times lately."

"Is it helping?" Mitchie asked, her voice turning serious.

Shane shrugged. "I don't know, to be honest. I'm starting to realize I've kind of lost myself along the way, though, and I can see why he's worried."

Mitchie reached a hand down to squeeze his shoulder. "I don't know what there is to worry about," she said softly.

Shane reached his hand up to cover hers on his shoulder. "Thanks, Mitchie," he said quietly. He dropped her hand and reached behind him to push himself up onto the bench beside her.

They sat there for a while, talking and joking around about anything and everything, simply enjoying each other's presence and eating marshmallows. At some point, they moved closer together on the bench, Shane's arm ending up behind Mitchie's back, with her head resting on his shoulder.

Neither of them thought to question how natural their shared moments felt.

* * *

A/N: Thoughts? Review and let me know, please :)

Also, I really want to thank XmcdlovesdangerX, Angielala, Caro09, and BabeRuthless for being my first reviewers ever on this site!

Chapter title is from "Vegas Skies" by The Cab.

February 11, 2010


	3. Six Feet Under the Stars

*Chapter 3: Six Feet Under the Stars*

* * *

Eventually, Shane noticed her shivering. "Cold?" he asked, even though he knew the answer.

Mitchie shook her head. "No," she said, teeth chattering.

"Liar," he said. "I can feel you shaking. Do you want to leave?"

"No," Mitchie said quickly, shaking her head. "Not unless you want to?"

Shane shook his head too. "Definitely not." He gently leaned away from her and got up off the bench, walking over to the metal box and grabbing the blanket out of it. Walking back towards the fire, he settled down beside it on the sand, wrapping the blanket around him. He motioned to Mitchie to come over, and she plopped down beside him. He reached the blanket around her and they huddled side by side underneath it, his arm again behind her back.

"And I thought you were planning on keeping that all to yourself," Mitchie muttered with a smile at him.

"Nah, I don't need to be a stuck up rock star right now," he grinned back.

She leaned into him. "Can I ask you something?" she asked quietly. He nodded, and she said, "Why have you been such an asshole lately?"

Shane pulled away from her, staring at her face in disbelief. "What are you –"

Mitchie quickly realized her mistake, "Oh! I'm sorry, Shane, I don't mean _lately_ lately. Like, not with me. I don't mean to offend you, I just … I mean, what's with the stuff I've been hearing about you in the media?" she blurted out.

"Oh," Shane said, realizing what she meant, and not quite as offended as he had been. He pulled her back against him, letting her know he wasn't taking it the wrong way. "Like I told you, my label likes the cookie-cutter pop-star stuff," he said with a shrug. "And I don't think that's me anymore. I don't want to be this huge rock star, living that kind of life, and singing songs that don't mean anything to me. It was getting to me, Mitchie; the demands of the label to do this, do that, get publicity, do the things they wanted, not what we felt was right. I was losing control of my life, and I felt like rebelling was the only way to get some of that back, I guess."

"And how did that work out?"

"I was sentenced to summer at Camp Rock," Shane answered with a small laugh. "And I sure as hell did _not_ want to be here," he admitted.

"Past tense?" Mitchie asked, staring straight ahead of her into the fire.

"Past tense," Shane confirmed, pulling her even closer to him. "I've had a lot of time to think about the things I used to love; being back at camp has especially helped because I grew up here, and this is where it all started for me. I feel like I've gotten back to my roots, and realized what's important to me and what I really want to do."

"You going to make some changes?"

He was quiet for a few moments, thinking about his answer. She absently rubbed her hand up and down his side with the arm she had snaked around his back. Finally, he answered, speaking very quietly, "I'd like to, but I don't know what's even possible right now. I have a lot left to figure out."

Mitchie accepted that, and responded by saying, "If it helps at all, I honestly don't even see any relation between the guy I've been hanging out with and the guy I see on TV." She paused, then added, "Except, of course, for the first couple of weeks, and generally every time you're around a lot of campers." She grinned.

He groaned in response. "And you started off so nicely with that." He sighed. "I know I've been an asshole here, okay? It's just that, at first, I didn't want to be here at all, and then since I've realized it's nice to be back, I've spent the majority of my time trying to avoid the 'screaming girls', as you so eloquently put it."

Mitchie smirked at him. "Ah, but you love them so," she said, her eyes sparkling. "And one of them just might be your special girl."

He smiled genuinely, tightening his hold on her side. "Doesn't matter at all right now," he admitted quietly.

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, before he realized Mitchie was shivering again.

"Do you want to leave now?" he asked her, glancing at his watch. "It's a quarter to midnight."

She shook her head. "I'm good as long as you are?" she questioned.

He smiled, "I don't care about the time, I just don't want you to freeze to death."

"I'm fine, I'm tough," Mitchie said bravely, with a smile on her face.

"High impression of yourself, don't you think?" he teased.

"Don't tell me you don't believe it," she bantered back.

He grinned. "I've gotta hand you that one," he said, raising up his hands in defeat. "You're one of the most independent girls I've ever met."

She smiled back. "Is that a compliment I just got from _the_ Shane Gray?"

He nodded in mock-seriousness. "Yes, but it's useless to tell anyone about it, because they'd never believe it. Can't damage my image, after all."

"Hey, I wouldn't tell anyone; I'd never get the free stuff and parties associated with knowing you otherwise."

He gasped and shoved her playfully in surprise. "Your words wound me," he said crossing his arms and pouting. "Jerk," he added, after a moment.

"You know," Mitchie smiled, turning towards him. "I could almost misconstrue that as a term of endearment by this point."

He smirked, and, noticing her continued shivering, crawled behind her and leaned against the bench, pulling her between his legs and hugging her back to his chest. He leaned his head on her shoulder and said, as he felt her shivers lessen, "You didn't misconstrue anything."

Mitchie was surprised when Shane maneuvered his way behind her, but it felt so comfortable that she didn't mind at all. They'd been growing closer all day, and she enjoyed seeing this side of him. Deciding to voice her opinions, she said softly, "Thank you for showing me this side of you," turning her eyes to look into his.

She saw a genuine smile grace his face. "It's not a side," he admitted quietly. "This is me."

Internally, she was jolted by his words; her words. They were her words, from her song. But of course, she knew there was no way he could have heard that, and so she refrained from commenting on how his words had affected her.

"Well, thanks for letting me know you," she said, still looking into his eyes.

He lifted his head up and her head fell into the curve of his neck. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, and murmured against it, "Thank you for accepting who I am."

They stayed like that for a while, just enjoying being around each other. They talked a little more, but mostly just sat in companionable silence. He asked her about her songs, and about various aspects of her life. She hated lying to him, so she only told him truths. Everything she told him was rooted in fact; she just placed it in the context of her mother working for Hot Tunes TV China. She still felt dirty for lying to someone she was quickly growing to care about, but she was so deeply entrenched in her lies by this point that she had to keep trekking through. Not to mention how terrified she was that if he found out she wasn't rich, and that her mother wasn't influential, he'd ditch her. Logically, she knew it shouldn't be that way, from what she'd learned about him since Camp Rock had begun, but she couldn't get rid of that fear, and so she kept up with the lies.

Eventually, she could tell they were both close to falling asleep, and the fire had almost died out. She looked at her watch, and said, "I hate to say it, but it's almost one-thirty. Should we be getting back before we fall asleep out here?"

Shane groaned, but she felt him nod against her head. "Yeah, you're right. I don't really think getting eaten by coyotes would be a good way to end the night, either."

"Coyotes?" Mitchie's eyes widened fearfully as Shane got up and held a hand out to her.

"Mmhmm," Shane nodded somberly. "They're not as common as the bears, but I still wouldn't want to chance it."

"Bears?" Mitchie squeaked, standing up and immediately wrapping her arms around herself as if in protection.

Shane couldn't contain his laughter anymore, and Mitchie punched his arm when he doubled over laughing.

"You're such a smartass," she grumbled. "You know I'm gullible!"

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't believe you believed me! I mean, dude, we're on an island! A really small one!"

Mitchie just glared at him as he continued to laugh. He straightened up after a moment and tugged on one of her crossed arms to bring her against his chest again. Still somewhat shaking with laughter, he said through a smile, "Aw, c'mon, Mitchie, I'm sorry. I was just playing with you."

"So you mean there aren't any bears over here?" Mitchie pouted as she returned his hug.

"None," he promised, adding, "I'm not as sure about the coyotes, but –"

"Shut up," Mitchie cut him off, rolling her eyes and pushing away from him.

Laughing, he leaned down and gathered the blanket, and then walked over to place it back in the metal box. Returning to where Mitchie waited at the beginning of the path, he slung an arm around her shoulders, and they walked together back to the beach.

Helping Shane push the motor boat back into the water, Mitchie raised an eyebrow and said, "You realize your little joke makes me wary of trusting anything you say, right?"

Shane just grinned and didn't reply until they were both safely in the boat and he was guiding them back toward camp. "Should've realized I wasn't trustworthy the moment you found out I'm a rock star."

"You're a dick, is what you are," Mitchie stared at him with a challenging look in her eye.

Unable to keep up the charade any longer, Shane laughed, saying, "I love that you don't just take my shit, Mitch. There's your answer for why you're the only camper I'm not actively trying to run away from."

Mitchie caught the reference to her earlier comment, and smiled. "Actively?" she teased.

He shrugged. "What, do you expect me to just sit there and take it every time you punch me or fling water at me?"

"Yes," Mitchie said, completely serious.

Shane shook his head. "You're gonna keep me on my toes, Ms. Torres."

Mitchie could only smile, unable to deny the feeling of warmth that spread through her upon hearing Shane's words. "Yeah, maybe I will keep you around for a while, just for the challenge."

"Whatever you need to believe, Mitch," Shane grinned.

They reached the other side, and Shane steered them back under the dock. Jumping out onto the sand, Mitchie watched as he tethered the boat to one of the support beams, and then came out of the water to meet her. Together they walked up the path to the cabins, the same one they'd walked together earlier that day. Mitchie's arm was around Shane's waist; his arm was around her shoulders. As they neared the cabins, they stopped before they came into the light where they could be seen or overheard.

"Thanks," Mitchie said simply, sincerely looking into his eyes. "You shared a lot with me, and I want you to know how much I appreciate it."

"Thanks for letting me," he answered, adding, "And thanks for opening up to me too."

"Remember when we got over there, you asked me if I trust you?"

"Yeah," Shane laughed. "You told me it remained to be seen."

"Well, I've seen," Mitchie smiled. "And I do."

He pulled her into a hug. "You're a great girl, Mitchie Torres," he said into her hair.

"And you're an amazing guy, Shane Gray," she whispered. "And not just for being the talented super star."

He grinned and pulled away from her. "When are you free again?"

"You're assuming I'm going to spend my free time with you? Geez, you're big on the assumptions, aren't ya?" she teased him.

"Well, I _am_ kind of a big deal," he admitted with a mock air of arrogance.

"You don't say? Hmm, well I'll have to figure out when the princess demands my presence at practice, and I'll let you know. Can't miss out on spending time with a super star."

He smiled, "Alright, sounds good." He looked into her eyes again for a moment. "You're different," he said, repeating his words from the week before when he'd sung her that song.

"Good different?" Mitchie asked teasingly.

"Definitely good different."

"And how do you know that?"

Shane paused. "Let me ask you something, okay?" She nodded. "Did you tell anyone we've been hanging out?"

"No," she said, taken aback. "Well, I guess I told Caitlyn, since she asked what I was doing tonight."

"But other than that, nothing? Not when I sung you that song last week? You didn't even say anything to Tess when you went to practice after we spent all afternoon together?"

"No," she responded with a raised eyebrow. "Where are you going with this?"

He ignored her question, saying instead, "I know you've seen the girls at this camp following me around –"

"And some of the guys, too," Mitchie added.

"Exactly," Shane continued. "I know you've seen them, and I know Tess has been trying to get my attention." At Mitchie's raised eyebrow, he rolled his eyes, "I'd have to be blind not to," he admitted. "The girl takes every word I say literally, and twists every opportunity to make me look at her. You could have told her this afternoon that we'd been hanging out, either to get her respect, or to one-up her and make her jealous of you." He paused. "And yet, you said nothing."

"Well, no," Mitchie spoke up, "It's not anyone's business."

"And _that_ is exactly how I know you're good different," Shane smiled. "I know you think I make a lot of assumptions, but I feel especially safe in my assumption that if I'd hung out with any other girl at this camp, all the other campers, their friends and family back home, and probably some form of press would have known about it by the end of the day. You don't make me feel like I'm in danger of having my secrets spilled. And you know what?" he said, continuing to gaze at her in the moonlight.

"What?"

"I trust you too," he paused. "How about you text me when you have some free time?"

"Okay," she nodded, leaning into him again. "But you realize I don't have your cell number, right?"

"Hmm, that's right," Shane said, as if he'd just realized that fact. Each of them pulling out their phones, they swapped them, and he watched as she entered her number into his cell, saved it, and handed it back. She raised her eyebrows again when she saw he wasn't doing the same.

"Forget your number?" she asked teasingly, trying to figure out why he hadn't entered his number and handed the phone back to her by now.

"No," he said, and she noticed that his tone had turned completely serious. She shot him a questioning glance, and he sighed. "I need you to understand something," he started. "I know it's just a number, but… I've never given my cell number out to a girl before," he admitted. "Not my personal cell number, not since I became a 'super star'," he said, using air quotes.

Mitchie raised her eyebrows. "What about those celebs you've dated?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"I have two numbers," he shrugged. "My work one, and my personal one. I always gave them my work cell number, I guess because it always felt more like business than anything personal."

Mitchie's breath caught in her throat as she caught on to what he was trying to say. He sighed again, "I just want you to know that my giving you this means a lot to me, and I hope it means a lot to you too."

"It does," she breathed quietly, leaning into him again, and watching as he entered his number and hit the 'save' button. He snapped the phone shut, and handed it back to her. Mitchie slid it into her pocket, and he wrapped his arms around her in a hug. She cuddled against him, saying softly, "I had a great time with you."

"Me, too," he said. "But unfortunately, camp duties call, and we have to get to bed."

"Yes, teacher," Mitchie teased, her head against his chest.

He smiled and kissed the top of her head again. She pulled back from him slightly and looked up into his eyes. They stared at each other for a moment before he leaned his head down slightly and his lips met hers. Their lips pressed together in a gentle kiss for a moment before they broke apart. Smiles broke out on both of their faces, and Shane leaned in for another quick kiss. He then leaned his forehead against hers before closing his eyes. "I have _seriously_ wanted to do that for a while," he admitted, laughing quietly.

Mitchie raised her eyebrow. "Hmm, is the super star admitting he was nervous?"

Shane rolled his eyes. "Rock stars don't get nervous," he said with a false sense of bravado.

She grinned and pulled away from him reluctantly. "I'll talk to you soon, then?" she asked.

"I teach your hip hop class in roughly eight hours," Shane smirked.

It was her turn to roll her eyes, "You know what I meant, smartass," she said, as she began walking up the stairs to her cabin.

He grinned and started up the path toward his own cabin. "See you soon," he called softly.

With a smile on her face, she quietly opened the door to her cabin. After she'd changed, she made sure to hide the sweatshirt she'd been wearing underneath a pile of other clothes in her dresser, in case Tess saw it and associated her with the person from the boat. She settled down into her bed under the warm covers, and was drifting off to sleep when she saw a light flashing on her phone, indicating an incoming something. She reached over and flipped it open, seeing a text message from Shane. _Night Jerk_ was all it said. Smirking, she sent one back, flipped her phone shut, and closed her eyes, thinking of how quickly her feelings for Shane had developed and intensified.

Hoping for an answer back from Mitchie, Shane smiled when he heard his phone vibrate on his bedside table. He flipped his phone open and read her message, which said _Night Rock Star_. He grinned into the darkness of his room as he snapped his phone closed and tried to get to sleep. He hadn't known Mitchie all that long at all, but he already knew he had feelings for her, and he couldn't wait to explore what would happen next.

* * *

A/N: Thoughts on Mitchie and Shane's relationship? What about him sharing the island with her? Please review and let me know what you think about everything!

I know things are starting slowly, but I feel like it's important to spend some time establishing their relationship. Sometimes there are going to be a few chapters that will cover one day, and some chapters are going to cover much longer periods of time. I'm just going with the flow here haha. Things won't always be so light-hearted and dialogue-heavy; there's a lot of drama coming up later on in the story, but again, I feel like it's necessary to really give you a feel for these characters. Thanks for reading!

Chapter title is from "Six Feet Under the Stars" by All Time Low.

February 13, 2010


	4. And Your Eyes Were Lined With Questions

*Chapter 4: And Your Eyes Were Lined With Questions*

* * *

The next morning, Mitchie sat stretching in the empty hip hop classroom, waiting for everyone else to show up. She'd woken up before the other girls, and had gone to help her mother in the kitchen. Instead of eating in the mess hall, she'd grabbed something from the kitchen, and proceeded to go back to her cabin to shower, change and come to class early. Her thoughts were all over the place, and she figured she could use the time alone to do some thinking and work things out. She was confused by how fast her feelings for Shane had developed. A few weeks ago, she'd thought he was the most egotistical super star out there at the moment, and it was hard for her to reconcile that with the guy she'd gotten to know lately. Mitchie knew she really liked the side of him she'd seen so far – or the 'real him', as he'd put it.

She was surprised that he was so easy for her to talk to. She'd only really hung out with him on two different days, besides the initial encounter when she'd told him off while hiding behind a mask of flour, and yet she'd never before met any guy with whom she opened up so easily to and trusted so much. It kind of scared her that everything had happened so quickly with him, but she shrugged it off, telling herself that whatever happened, happened, and she was willing to see where things would lead. She knew she liked him, and suspected that he knew it wasn't just for the fact that he was a pop star.

And the cell phone number. She could see that it was clearly a big step for him to give it to her, and she couldn't deny the fluttering she got in her stomach at the realization that he trusted her and cared enough to give it to her when he hadn't to anyone else.

She hated to admit that she was mildly nervous about how this class would go. It was the first time she'd see Shane since their kiss. _'Kisses'_, she corrected herself with a small smile. She'd enjoyed the feeling of his lips on hers; she felt like she fit perfectly with him, and that thought scared her almost as much as how quickly her feelings had developed. She knew nothing overt would happen between herself and Shane during the class; she felt like there was almost an unspoken agreement not to flaunt whatever was going on between them. But she couldn't stop herself from wondering

Her thoughts were interrupted as people started pouring into the class, and she realized she wouldn't have long to wait for her answer. Tess, Peggy and Ella soon entered and came over to her.

"Where have you _been_ lately?" Tess demanded the second she sat down next to Mitchie to begin her stretching. "Did you even come back last night from wherever you were?"

"Yes!" Mitchie said quickly; she hadn't thought her excuse through at all. "I was out late, and got up early to go for a run."

"You went for a run this morning?" Tess asked, disbelief evident in her voice.

"Yeah, um," Mitchie paused. "I told you I'm an early riser; I decided I might as well be productive with my time and get in some running."

She was saved from any more of Tess's questions as the doors banged open and a pissed-off-looking Shane barged in. He strutted over to the stereo system and popped a CD in, completely ignoring everyone else in the room. Everyone looked at each other, shrugging, unsure of what was going on. Shane hadn't exactly been friendly with the campers lately, but they hadn't seen a display such as this since their very first class. Mitchie wondered what was going on; she felt like she should have some insight into him by now, but she was as much in the dark as the rest of them, considering he'd certainly been in a great mood the last time she'd seen him.

Shane soon realized that everyone was just standing around. He whipped himself around to face the class, spreading his arms wide in an exasperated gesture. "What are you waiting for?" he yelled and pointed toward the wall. "Across the floor, now!"

Everyone scattered and did as they were told. The class continued in much the same manner, with Shane angrily telling everyone they were doing things wrong, and everyone very much confused by his change in attitude.

The two hour class seemed much longer by everyone's standards, and they were all thankful when Shane finally said, "Alright, that's it for today, get out of here," whipped off his cap, hit the 'stop' button on the stereo, and went barging right back out of the cabin. Simply left staring after him in confusion, none of them could understand what had just happened.

"Well, that was interesting," Peggy said as they left the building.

"That was hot," Tess said, with finality in her tone.

Mitchie shot her a disbelieving look. "Hot?" she exclaimed. "He just treated everyone like shit for two hours, Tess, you included."

Tess shrugged. "It's how it's done in the music world," she said, as if this was obvious.

"It's how it's _done_?" Mitchie screeched. "That doesn't even make sense, Tess. He's been nicer since the first class to us, and you're okay with him suddenly knocking all of us down every opportunity he gets? Just because he's a pop star doesn't give him the right to make everyone feel bad about themselves."

"It's not supposed to be taken personally. I know that; he knows I know that. It's why we'd work so well together." With that, she flipped her hair over her shoulder and started toward the mess hall, with Peggy and Ella following behind. Mitchie just stood there, staring after them in complete disbelief. Shaking her head, she finally followed too.

Unbeknownst to Mitchie, Shane had been waiting just around the corner of the building, listening to the girls' conversation. Mitchie's words had hit home with him, and he knew she was angry at him for his display. He sighed; he hadn't meant to act that way, he was just so frustrated. And now the one person he felt like talking to clearly had no interest in talking to him.

He began walking away in the opposite direction from the one Mitchie had gone off in. He didn't want to ruin her day anymore, and so he decided to leave her alone.

* * *

Mitchie made her way through the rest of the day without seeing Shane; if she was honest with herself, she wasn't even sure she wanted to. He'd been _that_ guy today, the one she knew of from the media, known for his rebellion and 'holier-than-thou' attitude. She hadn't liked the way he'd treated everyone today, and she especially hadn't liked the way he'd treated her. She hadn't thought he'd completely change or anything; she saw his point when he'd said he liked to keep people at arm's length because he didn't know who was being true. She hadn't expected him to treat her any differently than anyone else either, just as he normally did. But that didn't mean that she'd expected him to treat everyone worse, either. Something had obviously happened; or at least, she _hoped_ it had, and that he wasn't just regretting everything he'd shared with her the night before.

Because, if she was staying honest with herself, she had to admit that was her real fear: that Shane had woken up and realized that he'd made a mistake, and had tried to undo the damage by reverting back to his old self.

As she sat in the mess hall with Tess and the others at dinner, she saw Shane enter from the back. He quietly went over and gathered some food, and went about his business alone. This was his normal routine; he usually didn't eat with the campers. She watched as he looked at her, and tried to convey something. She shook her head slightly, trying to let him know she didn't want to hear it. She shrugged his way, and then clearly focused her attention on whatever Tess was rambling about at the moment. She willed herself not to look back at him.

Shane stood there holding his plate of food, feeling 100% dejected. He'd hoped he'd be able to catch her eye, to talk to her and explain himself. But he understood that she was steadfastly ignoring him, and he didn't feel like pushing it; not here, not in front of everyone. He sighed, and walked out the way he'd come in, trying to stir up as little attention as possible.

After dinner, Mitchie made her half-hearted excuses to Tess, Peggy, and Ella, and left to walk around the building and into the kitchen to help her mother. She worked in silence, largely ignoring everyone else in the room, and not noticing the worried looks that Connie and Caitlyn were shooting each other. Both of them tried to engage her in conversation, but she was completely distracted and unresponsive. When everything had been cleaned up, and all that was left to do was for Caitlyn and Mitchie to put away the dishes as usual, Connie sighed and kissed her daughter goodbye, following her staff outside.

Once they were alone in the kitchen, Caitlyn turned toward where Mitchie was putting plates away, and tugged her arm to turn her around. "Okay, what the hell is going on with you?" she asked, bewildered.

"What do you mean?" Mitchie asked, pulling her arm out of her friend's grasp and picking up more dishes to put away.

"I _mean_ that the last time I talked to you, you were bolting out of here like lightning to go meet the world's most obnoxious pop star, and I totally expected you both to be happy as clams in class this morning. Imagine my surprise when he walks in pissed off like he hasn't met his quota for number of girls chasing after him per day, and you're all wide-eyed for two hours like you just realized Santa Claus isn't real. What gives?"

"Nice descriptions," Mitchie said drily as she returned the last of the dishes to their shelves and hopped up on the table to look at Caitlyn. "I don't know, okay?"

"What do you mean you don't know? Did you, or did you not hang out with him last night?"

"I did, and it was really good. Or," she corrected herself, "at least I _thought_ it was."

"Spill," Caitlyn demanded, hoisting herself up onto the counter across from Mitchie and swinging her legs back and forth.

Mitchie sighed, and then launched into a recap of what she and Shane had done the night before. The more Mitchie talked, the happier she looked, Caitlyn noticed, especially when she admitted they'd kissed. After Caitlyn managed to pick her jaw back up off the floor upon hearing the end of Mitchie's story, she furrowed her brow.

"But I don't get it," Caitlyn admitted. "It sounds like you guys ended on good terms. Well, better than _good_, but you know what I mean."

Shrugging, Mitchie said, "Yeah, I definitely thought so, too. Then he came to class like that this morning, and I had no idea what was going on."

"Not even an inkling of what set him off?"

"Not at all. If anything was going on, he definitely didn't let anything on last night."

"Maybe he's just good at pretending."

Mitchie shot her friend a look. "Can you not say that, please?"

Caitlyn held up her hands in surrender. "Hey, it was just a joke." She paused, and an understanding look crossed her face. "You don't really think the way he's been acting with you is all fake, do you?"

"I don't know anymore," Mitchie groaned. "I mean, I don't actually think so, because that would be seriously mean to play around that way and I don't think he can act well enough to pull off something like that. No, what I'm scared of is that he regrets being so open with me for some reason. Like maybe he rethought things this morning, and maybe the way he acted is because he's pissed and realizes I'm just some dumb camp girl that can't be trusted."

Caitlyn looked at her blankly. "Bullshit," she said simply, shaking her head. "Not only is that the dumbest thing I've ever heard, but the boy's not smart enough to come to that kind of conclusion in so little time. That kind of insanely wrong thinking requires the kind of intelligence I'm not at all convinced he has."

Unable to help letting out a small laugh at her friend's comments, Mitchie admitted, "Okay, maybe I did give him a little too much credit."

"So what now?" Caitlyn asked.

"No idea. He tried to get my attention in the meal hall earlier, but I was still kind of too ticked off to actually respond. It's probably best to just give it time and see what happens; let us both cool off. If that's the guy he's going to be, I don't want anything to do with him anyway."

Nodding, Caitlyn jumped down off of the counter and watched as Mitchie did the same. "Look, you know I'm not Shane's biggest advocate, but maybe don't write this all off just yet? If nothing else, you hanging out with him is gonna provide me with some awesome ammo to tease you about. Because you've gotta be out of your mind to enjoy being around that guy."

Mitchie shoved her friend, laughing. "Speaking of people being out of their minds, I forgot to mention that Tess actually told me she thought the way Shane was acting was hot."

Caitlyn appeared stunned. "Are you screwing with me? There's a difference between bad boys and dickheads; guess which one Shane was."

"I know," Mitchie laughed, "but no one claimed Tess is the smartest person in the world. She said her and Shane would be good together because she understands behavior like that is necessary in the music world."

"Ooh," Caitlyn nodded, pretending to understand. "Yeah, now it makes total sense. He felt threatened in class because of all the hotshot music execs around, and Tess _would_ get it since she's a platinum-selling artist and all. Silly me for not seeing the match made in heaven sooner."

"Have I told you lately that I love you?" Mitchie gasped through her laughter as they flicked off the lights and headed toward the door.

"Nope, that's already a song, Mitch. Tess has made it big because she doesn't copy other people's stuff. Let's try to follow in her footsteps and be original." Slinging an arm around Mitchie's shoulders, they left the kitchen with Caitlyn adding, "But, please, feel free to express your love for our friendship in any other way you see fit. I'm on a mission to inflate my ego to the size of Shane's."

* * *

A/N: Um, so I guess in honour of Valentine's Day, I brought you a Shane & Mitchie separation? I'm sorry! It needed to happen, trust me. And also, don't hate me if the next update takes more time than I've taken so far; I have a ridiculous amount of important midterms in the next few days, and it's my birthday this week too!

I love those of you who commented telling me that Mitchie needs to tell Shane about her mom. Remember that this is just filling in the missing pieces from the movie, so EVERYTHING that happened in the movie is going to happen here as well – a.k.a. she's not going to tell him, and he's still going to find out from Tess and get pissed off. But there's a LOT of story before that, and it's going to make sense just why Shane gets so upset when he finds out she's lying. Stick with me! Haha.

Loving all of your comments, please continue to review :)

Because I forgot, the first chapter's title is from "Beautiful World" by Carolina Liar.

This chapter title is from "Drop Out – The So Unknown" by Jack's Mannequin.

February 14, 2010


	5. Got Your Message & It’s Been A Long Time

*Chapter 5: So I Got Your Message, And It's Been A Long Time*

* * *

Two days after Shane had terrorized Mitchie's hip hop class, both of them had become extremely frustrated with their lack of communication. They'd both opted to let things cool down, and neither was sure if it was a good idea to make the first move or not. In reality, neither of them had a clue as to how they'd gotten to this point, or understood what was going on in the other's mind.

Shane was growing tired of not being able to talk to Mitchie, and even more tired of wondering if he'd ruined his chances with her. His feelings for her had developed faster than they had for anyone else before, ever, and he didn't want to let that go. He knew he liked her, and he could even admit that it was quite a lot. He was pretty sure she felt the same, and he knew she didn't just like him because he was a celebrity. Actually, he felt the reason she liked him was quite the opposite; he'd shown her shades of who he really was, and he liked that she seemed to enjoy that more than the persona he presented to the rest of the world. But he didn't just like her because of the way she treated him; it was because of her humour, her independence, her thoughtfulness, her intelligence, and so many other things he couldn't put his finger on quite yet. As he sat on his deck strumming on his guitar in the Saturday afternoon sun, he realized that he had to take the initiative and try to fix things.

Mitchie was sitting in her cabin reading a magazine and making small talk with Tess, Peggy, and Ella, when her cell phone began to vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out and flipped it open, and was shocked to see a text message from Shane. Opening it, she read '_Can we talk? Tonight at nine on the dock where I played you that song?_' She sighed and flipped it shut. She didn't respond, because she didn't know if she was going to go. Not because she was angry with him, but because she was afraid of what he wanted to talk to her about. Did he want to tell her he regretted everything he'd told her when they'd hung out? Did he want to take back everything they'd shared?

She was worried that this had nothing to do with the way he'd acted in class a few days ago; she thought this had more to do with him realizing he'd made a mistake in being so open with her, and wanting to make sure she'd keep her mouth shut when they stopped hanging out. She sighed, and ignored the quizzical looks she was receiving from the other girls in her cabin at her sudden change in mood. She shrugged it off; there were still several hours left to figure out whether she'd go or not, and she was grateful because she'd need every single available second to decide.

* * *

That night, Shane sat on the dock in a hoodie and shorts, with his legs dangling into the water. His hood was flipped up, as he'd taken to doing everything possible not to be noticed at camp anymore; he was getting annoyed with the constant stream of screaming girls following him around, and the guys perpetually popping up to ask him this or that, or for an autograph. He looked at his watch: 9:10. He sighed, thinking Mitchie had decided not to come. He'd figured she might not, considering she'd never answered his text message. He wished she would though; things were strange between them, and he wasn't sure exactly why, but he did know he wanted to fix them.

He felt the dock move a little in the water and looked over his right shoulder to see Mitchie stepping onto it. He glanced over her outfit of loose capris and a zip-up sweater, and decided she was much better prepared for the outdoors at this time of night than he was.

Mitchie walked over to him apprehensively, tentatively returning the small smile he shot her way. She crouched down and sat next to him, but not too close, dipping her feet into the water too after she'd kicked off her flip flops.

They sat in an awkward silence for a moment, before he finally broke it. "I wasn't sure if you'd come," Shane said quietly, staring down into the water.

He felt Mitchie shrug beside him. "I wasn't sure if I would, either," she admitted just as quietly.

Shane swallowed, before suddenly deciding to just blurt out, "I'm sorry."

Mitchie turned an astonished face toward him. "You're sorry?" He nodded. She blinked. "For what?"

"For being such an asshole in class the other day," Shane answered, turning his head to face her. "I know it was uncalled for, and I know it upset you, and… I'm sorry," he finished lamely, willing her to accept his apology.

Mitchie slowly shook her head at him in surprise, a small smile creeping onto her face. "Well, _that_ was unexpected," she said.

"Why? Pop stars can't apologize?" Shane asked, mocking himself.

Mitchie smiled softly. "I thought _you_ were upset with _me_, Shane," she answered. "I thought you wanted to talk to me to make sure I wouldn't spread the things you told me or something," she finished with a shrug.

It was Shane's turn to look astonished. "Mitchie," he paused. "_Why_ would I say that to you?"

Mitchie shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I just thought that your attitude in class that day at least partially had something to do with me. I mean, the last thing we did the night before was hang out, and then the next morning you're all 'bad attitude, pissed off at the world'? I thought you'd changed your mind, and regretted everything you told me. I kinda figured you wanted to talk to me tonight just to make sure that I'd keep what we talked about a secret." She stared out over the lake from their place on the dock, hidden by an overhang of trees.

Because she was looking straight ahead of her, she missed the shocked look on Shane's face. "No way," he managed to stammer out eventually. "That was _so_ not what was going on at all, Mitchie. I heard you talking to Tess and those girls after you left my class. I know you thought I acted like a jerk, and I thought you couldn't get past that."

"You did act like an asshole," Mitchie admitted, turning her head to look at him finally. "But the only reason I haven't talked to you is because I've been afraid of you turning me away. I'd thought we'd had fun the other night, and I guess I just wasn't ready to hear you say you regretted it," she shrugged.

Shane just shook his head, speechless and open-mouthed, "I know I acted like a dick," he finally began, "and I thought you were angry about that, which is honestly the only reason I haven't talked to you since then." He paused again. "I don't regret the other night, Mitchie," he said softly, looking out over the lake. "I don't regret anything I said to you. And I definitely, _definitely_, have no plans of turning you away," he looked down at his feet, his grip tightening on the edge of the dock as he realized what he'd just said.

Mitchie was completely overwhelmed with happiness at his words. She tentatively reached her hand out and pried his off of the dock, intertwining their fingers as he looked up at her in surprise. "Is this okay?" she joked, smiling softly.

Shane smiled. "Since it seems I have to clarify all of my actions now, _yes_," he joked back. He squeezed her hand, then leaned back against the tree, pulling her against his stomach, both of them dangling their left feet in the water.

Mitchie relaxed into his embrace as they sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes. As she was playing with his hands in front of her, she finally broke the silence. "What happened the other morning, Shane?" she asked quietly.

Shane's hands stilled as he was caught off-guard, but he quickly relaxed and kept up the playful motions with his hands. "I'd called the label early on Thursday morning," he began, "to tell them about my ideas for a new sound. Talking to you the night before had given me a little bit of courage, and I figured if I didn't do it now, I wouldn't do it. So I put it on speakerphone, played a little bit of the song I sang for you at the lake, and asked what the reps thought." He paused for a few moments.

"And?" Mitchie prompted, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"They weren't very receptive," Shane shrugged. "They didn't outright say they hated it, but they said something along the lines of 'It's too different from the cookie-cutter pop stuff that's made you famous, let's stick with what we know will sell.' I have no recourse, so I had to accept what they said. When I got off the phone, I started realizing that I'm stuck. I've finally gotten to the point where I'm able to be creative with my music again, and now I'm pegged into this style that doesn't interest me anymore because there's no opportunity for advancement. This all happened about ten minutes before your hip hop class, and I wasn't feeling like being around people. I know I shouldn't have taken it out on you guys, and I didn't actually mean to, but the anger just spilled over because I was so upset. I'm really sorry," he finished, squeezing her hand.

Mitchie sighed. "I'm really sorry you had to hear that after you put yourself out there," she said softly. "Completely understandable why you acted that way in class, now."

Shane shrugged. "I feel bad about it, but since it fits fairly well with the rest of my image, the only thing that concerned me was what I heard you say about me after class. I was worried that you wouldn't want to speak to me again, or that you wouldn't give me the chance to explain."

"I'm sorry you felt like you couldn't talk to me," Mitchie said. "And I'm sorry I didn't give you the opportunity to do so."

Shane kissed the top of her head, smiling into her hair. "How about we stop apologizing to each other, huh?" he laughed.

"How about we just stop doing the stupid things that we feel like we need to apologize for?" Mitchie shot back.

Shane laughed. "I'll agree with that."

"So what are you going to do about your label and your music?" Mitchie asked curiously.

She felt him shrug behind her again. "Nothing I can do, really," he said dejectedly. "I gave it a shot, at least."

Mitchie shook her head. "You know I'm proud of you for that, Shane, I am, really. But do _not_ give up now, there are other ways of getting your sound out there."

"Like what?" Shane asked sarcastically. "Jump ship with my label and shop around for new reps?" He shook his head. "We're roped into a contract to stay with them for at least one more record. And I can't exactly go mouthing off and demand that they do what I want; I've tried that already and it only landed me with a canceled tour and a summer here," he smiled.

Mitchie laughed. "I know," she sighed. "But I just want to believe there's some way for you to do this." She thought for a moment, and then an idea came to her, "Hey, do Nate and Jason know what you're doing with your music these days?"

"Kind of," he admitted. "I've told them I've been messing around a little and coming up with some stuff that sounds like ours used to in the old days. They seemed really receptive to the idea, but they haven't heard anything concrete. Why?"

She shrugged, still playing with their hands. "I was just thinking that if you guys could get together and fully develop a song, and maybe get it out there somehow, like with a small public performance or something, the label wouldn't have any alternative but to produce it and let you continue that way if the feedback is good."

Shane pushed Mitchie off of his stomach slightly, and she turned around to face him, a questioning look in her eyes. "You are a _genius_, Mitchie Torres," Shane gasped. "That is brilliant!"

"It's a long shot," she admitted, "but it seems like it might be the only course of action for you right now if no one else is taking you seriously." She paused for a moment. "It's also very you – unpredictable, rebellious, and crazy. I thought it was a perfect fit," she said cheekily.

"Aw, you know me so well by now," Shane joked. "You just forgot to add my spontaneity in there."

Mitchie raised an eyebrow, "That one got knocked off the list when you let it slip how nervous you were to kiss me the other night."

Shane grinned slightly before reaching around to the back of Mitchie's head and drawing her closer to kiss her softly. She pulled back after a moment, and he looked down at her with his eyebrows furrowed. She smiled, turning herself around and scooting closer to him, so that she was straddling his lap. He smiled up at her, as she leaned her face down again and captured his lips.

The kisses began softly and sweetly, and then he ran his tongue along her lips. As she opened her mouth to allow him entrance, the kisses deepened and she pressed herself against him. He drew her closer, his hands clutched on her hips as he brought his legs up so that she was penned in by his body.

Eventually, they reluctantly pulled apart to breathe, and Shane nipped a few more times at her lips before resting their foreheads together as they both breathed deeply. "How's that for being spontaneous?" he whispered with a smile.

Mitchie quirked her lip up, smiling back. "I think we both get a point for that one," she agreed.

They sat there comfortably for a moment, seemingly stuck in time in their own little world. He clutched her closer to him and she wrapped herself around him, foreheads pressed together, their eyes rarely blinking. They were startled as they heard the crunching of branches on the trail above them, meaning that someone was walking by. Smiling as she removed herself from his lap, Mitchie stood up and stretched. "Hate to say it, but I think that's our cue to leave."

Shane cocked an eyebrow at her as he hoisted himself up too. "But wouldn't it be fun to see someone's reaction to catching you in my lap mid-make out?"

"If that were the case, and we really were mid-make out, I don't think I would have been in much of a state to notice anything like that," Mitchie admitted, looking up at him shyly.

Shane laughed at that, wrapping an arm around her shoulder as they began walking off the dock and up the trail. "I'd have to say I agree with that," he whispered, kissing the top of her head. She reached her hand up to intertwine it with his as they walked along the lake in the moonlight.

Nearing the cabins, Mitchie stopped and looked up at him. "I really think you can do this, Shane," she said seriously. "I think you should talk to Nate and Jason."

"I know," he admitted. "I will, I promise. It's just a big step to take, after facing rejection already."

Mitchie nodded in understanding. "It's worth a shot though, if you have nothing left to lose."

Shane smiled. "I think you're good for me, Mitchie Torres."

"Don't thank me yet," Mitchie said jokingly, "When this single goes platinum, I want all the perks you get."

"I'm so glad I've finally figured out what you want out of your association with me," Shane played hurt.

She moved closer to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his chest. "I would've thought you'd figured that out from my display back at the dock," she said seriously.

His arms wrapped around her back and squeezed her to him tightly. "I think I did," he admitted softly.

She leaned up to kiss him goodnight, and then reluctantly pulled away. "I should get in there before Tess sends out a search party wondering where I am. She's been getting awfully nosy lately."

"Lately?" Shane snorted. "The girl is like a walking gossip magazine whose only goal is to take people down."

Mitchie laughed. "With everything you say about her, I'd almost think you have negative feelings toward one of your students."

"Never," Shane said, drawing himself up stiffly. "Instructors shouldn't have any feelings whatsoever toward students. That would be biased."

"Hmm, so no positive feelings toward one student in particular are allowed?" Mitchie asked coyly.

Shane smirked. "Haven't you learned, babe? I'm the exception to the rule. And apparently you are too." He leaned over to peck her laughing lips one last time, before turning and heading up the path toward the instructors' cabins. "Night, jerk."

"Night, rock star," Mitchie responded, still laughing as she headed toward her own cabin.

* * *

A/N: So they're on track to… somewhere? We'll see. Thoughts on Shane's reason for acting the way he did? What about the progress of their relationship?

Please review! There have been lots of hits on the story, but I'd like to know what you're all actually thinking :) **30** reviews would make me extremely happy!

Chapter title is from "In The Rearview" by The Academy Is…

February 20, 2010


	6. I’ll Help You Break The Walls Down

*Chapter 6: I'll Help You Break The Walls Down*

* * *

When Mitchie woke up the next morning, a huge grin spread across her face as she remembered the events of the night before. Not only had she had her questions regarding Shane answered, but she felt like they'd gone a step further in solidifying whatever was going on between them. While she felt mildly ridiculous for believing that Shane hadn't wanted anything to do with her, she had enjoyed the incredulous look on Shane's face at her suggestion, as if the claim were downright crazy. That, coupled with how much Shane was sharing with her on a personal level even at this early stage in their relationship, made her almost giddy with excitement. She really appreciated seeing Shane this way, because, despite the fact that most of his issues concerned his band, it was very easy to forget he was anything other than an average boy at summer camp.

Mitchie continued to lie in bed for another half hour, just thinking about the time she had spent with Shane as she waited for Tess, Peggy, and Ella to wake up. It slightly terrified her how quickly she felt herself falling for him, which had been clearly evidenced by her display at the dock the night before. She groaned and put a pillow over her head as she thought about how embarrassing the situation would have been had they been caught. She was also surprised at how comfortable she was with Shane already. Rarely had she let herself get attached so easily; she hoped it was a testament to the beginnings of a serious connection, and not to the fact that she was an idiot. Perhaps she was playing the same game as many before had, getting reeled in by the famous Shane Gray, but somehow, she didn't think so. His stories, his feelings, his emotions, had seemed genuine, and she had seen how seriously he had taken the exchange of the phone numbers. As much as it scared her, she felt a strong desire to know as much about Shane Gray as she could – the stuff that the magazines wouldn't talk about because they would never be interested. She wanted to know more about the guy behind the star, the guy who she knew she was falling for.

Startled out of her thoughts as she heard the first rustlings of her cabin-mates waking up, Mitchie sat up and looked over to see Tess blinking blearily at her.

"Why are you always up so early?" she groaned.

Mitchie laughed. "Tess, it's ten a.m.," she responded, although she had also been enjoying simply relaxing in bed.

"Well, at least _I_ got my beauty sleep," Tess shot as Ella and Peggy began to wake up as well.

Mitchie rolled her eyes, but her previous train of thought had left her much too happy to bother saying anything in response. She hopped out of bed and began to pick out her clothes for the day as the other girls slowly dragged themselves out of bed and began to get ready.

Half an hour later, all four of the girls were ready and were making their way to the mess hall to fill their stomachs before the long hours of rehearsal Tess was sure to put them through.

Entering the hall, Mitchie saw Shane sneak in a back door at the same time. She watched as his eyes scanned the room, passing over all of the campers until his eyes met hers and he grinned, making her heart leap. He walked toward the display of food at his end of the Hall, standing behind the few people gathered there, and picking up a plate.

Tess had also seen him enter, as she suddenly clutched Mitchie's and Ella's arms tightly, hissing, "Oh my God, he's actually here when we are! I _need_ to go say hi!" She strutted toward the back of the room, quickly jumping in line first, so that she was right behind Shane. Mitchie casually followed Ella and Peggy toward Tess, who both looked just as star-struck as their leader.

Taking a big breath, Tess tapped Shane on the shoulder, plastered a wide and fake smile on her face, and when he turned around, said, "Shane, it's so nice to see you! You so rarely grace us with your presence anymore."

Mitchie tried to cover her smirk as she saw Shane feign surprise at seeing Tess and the girls behind him; of course he'd known they were there, he'd just been trying to avoid talking to Tess. "Oh, hey, girls," he greeted them all, choosing not to single out Tess specifically. "I didn't see you there, or I would have let you go in front of me, of course," he smiled, and left his place in line, indicating that Tess should move up and replace him.

"Shane," Tess laughed loudly, barely restraining herself from reaching out to grab his arm and keep him there. "Don't be silly, you were in line first!"

Shane just shook his head and frowned. "Ladies first," he said shortly, and turned to stand in line behind Mitchie, who was still at the back.

Face shining bright red, whether in anger or embarrassment, Tess picked up a plate and made quick work of the buffet table, as did Peggy and Ella behind her.

Mitchie smirked down at the table as she took her time gathering her breakfast, Shane beside her doing the same.

"Nicely played," she muttered under her breath.

"Well, how else was I supposed to talk to you?" she saw him smile as he reached for a piece of toast.

"Hmm, could've tried the whole texting thing. Or, hey, here's a thought, how about calling?" she laughed quietly.

"Shut up," he muttered back, laughing as well. "At least it got me out of having to listen to her fawn while I waited for the guy in front of me to finish."

Mitchie rolled her eyes. "Not sure what you thought you were getting into here, rock star, but pretty sure obsessive fans come as part of the package."

"Ah, but you're forgetting I had no choice in being here," Shane retorted quietly, as they neared the end of the line and he reached for a drink.

"Too bad," Mitchie said saucily as she placed her drink on her tray, shot him a secretive smile, and turned her back to walk toward the table her cabin-mates were sitting at the other end of the hall.

Shane just hid a smile, and walked out the way he'd come in, carrying his breakfast on his tray.

"A perfect gentleman, of course," Tess was saying as Mitchie approached the table.

"Shane?" she questioned as she sat down.

"Of course," Tess shot her a withering look. "Who else? It was so romantic the way he wanted me to take his place because it was the proper thing to do."

Choosing to remain silent on the subject of Tess not being the only one he'd allowed in front of him, Mitchie said, "I thought you said after his class this week that his asshole attitude made him hot?" She looked confused.

Tess scoffed. "Clearly, there are more sides to Shane Gray than you realize."  
"Guess so," Mitchie responded, as Ella turned the conversation in a different direction, and she began to focus exclusively on her food.

A few moments later, her phone began vibrating, and she pulled it out of her pocket to see an incoming call. She stared at the caller ID, saw it was Shane, and stood up casually from the table, telling the girls that her father was calling and that she would talk to him and then meet them in their cabin.

As the girls waved goodbye, Mitchie cut through a side door into the yard by the side of the Mess Hall, flipping open her phone as she walked. "Figured out how to use the phone now, huh?"

She heard him laugh on the other end. "Yeah, took me a little longer than I wanted it to. Rock stars aren't exactly known for their brilliance with any technology not involved in producing records."

"Mmm, I'd hate for you to be the exception," Mitchie teased, recalling his words from last night.

Shane obviously remembered them too, as he began laughing. "Nope, couldn't have that," he wheezed out. "What are your plans for the day?" he asked, after his laughing had calmed down.

Mitchie rolled her eyes, even though he clearly couldn't see her. "Practice, of course. Extremely long, mindblowingly dull, excruciatingly repetitive practice."

"Ooh, jealous!" Shane exclaimed, his laughing beginning again. He sighed, "Let me know if you're done early?"

"Of course, but I wouldn't count on it," Mitchie sighed back. "What are you up to?"

"Thought I'd take the day and try to get a rough draft of the lyrics to a song done. Could take me a while, so I figured I'd spend most of the day on it."

"Great idea," Mitchie agreed. "I don't think it'll take as long as you think, though. If you're anything like me, once you hit the right train of thought, the lyrics just pour out."

There was silence for a moment before Shane answered, all traces of humour gone from his voice. "It's nice to talk to someone who actually understands the process I go through," he said seriously. "I hope it's like that today, but if not, I'll probably be doing that until late tonight." He paused. "I guess you should probably go meet up with them. I'll talk to you later, then?" he asked softly.

"You know you will," Mitchie said just as softly, before flipping the phone closed again.

* * *

"Ugh, this is _hopeless_!" Tess exclaimed a few hours later.

"Tess," Mitchie began, exasperated, "we've been at this for hours! It's going well, but you're being nitpicky!"

"I am being professional!" Tess screeched. "But I am working with imbeciles, so I'm not sure why I ever thought I'd make any progress at all!"

Peggy and Ella looked slightly shocked at Tess's outburst; while it was standard for her to be rude and insulting, it was unusual for her to aim it toward them so overtly.

Mitchie decided to voice her feelings; she was tired of taking such attitude from Tess when it was the girl's own personality screwing things up. "Look, Tess, we have weeks to go before Final Jam! We, your background singers, are doing exactly what we are supposed to be doing; it's you and your dance steps and your lead singer attitude that you can't get under control! So, because I feel as though I've made as much progress today as possible, and because I cannot stand here and take your abuse anymore, I'm heading off for the afternoon. I'll see you later," she said, breathing wearily as she walked past a dumbfounded Tess. "Good luck, girls," she whispered, as she bypassed them to head out the door. They simply raised their hands to wave faint goodbyes in response.

Once safely outside the cabin, Mitchie snuck around to the side where they'd had a window open. She heard Tess shriek loudly, yell briefly at Peggy and Ella, and then proceed to tell them that they needed to run through it again from the top.

Satisfied that she was indeed free for the rest of the day, she strolled off on one of the trails, and flipped open her cell phone, sending a message to Shane: _'Ugh. Well that was fun.'_

A moment later, she was extremely pleased to be receiving a response already. _'You're done a lot earlier than I expected_', it said simply.

She grinned as she wrote back: _'A lot earlier than Tess expected, too_.'

Hi quick reply made her simultaneously laugh and warm with delight. '_Now who's being mysterious? You have the rest of the afternoon off?'_

She smiled, _'For a rock star? Always_.'

_'Come help me with the next hit single'_.

She laughed, texting back, '_Where are you?'_ She had almost reached the mess hall where she could hear other campers hanging out and practicing, when she realized it was strange that she hadn't gotten a response from him yet. Flipping open her phone just to make sure she hadn't spaced out and somehow missed it, she drew her eyebrows together in a frown as she wondered why he was taking so long. He'd been extremely fast with his previous responses, and it was strange that he was suddenly not answering.

After wandering around aimlessly for a few moments, she smacked her forehead in frustration as she realized he was playing a game with her. She groaned and took off toward the water, where she knew he was probably waiting for her, cursing him the whole way. She headed first toward the dock where they'd been the night before, and, finding no one there, she then headed toward the beach where the canoes were kept. As she neared the beach, though, she heard lots of chatter from campers who were enjoying the afternoon sun, and knew instinctively that he would not be in such a populated area. She thought about going up to try his cabin, but quickly discarded that idea because she thought he would rather be out by the lake on a day like this in order to let his creativity flow into writing lyrics.

She knew he must be somewhere she'd seen him before, if he expected her to find him, and so she finally headed off to the other side of camp where she'd initially walked by him so long ago as he snapped at her for interrupting his peace and quiet. A smile slowly appeared on her face as she began to walk out on the docks lined up as walkways. Down at the farthest point out in the water, she could see Shane sitting on the dock with his legs stretched in front of him, leaning against a bench playing his guitar.

She slowed down as she neared him and schooled her features to look mildly upset.

"Took you long enough," Shane grinned as he felt the dock move when she neared him.

"Hmm, might have been helpful if I'd been told where you were," Mitchie growled as she plopped down beside him, smacking him lightly on the back of the head.

"Hey!" Shane exclaimed. "You're lucky my bodyguard's not here, you'd be thrown out of camp for daring to abuse a rock star."

"I could throw you in the lake instead," Mitchie suggested with a shrug.

"Aaaaand your words are abusive, too," Shane mock pouted.

Mitchie finally laughed, and just smacked him lightly again. "Seriously, though, Carmen San Diego, what was with the Amazing Race?"

Shane laughed, "Thought I'd see how well you knew me," he teased.

She just rolled her eyes in response. "Apparently not at all, considering how long it took me to find you."

"I guess we'll just have to work on that, then," Shane grinned.

"I guess so," she agreed, smiling. "So how's the writing been going?" she asked, motioning toward his guitar and the notebook set next to him.

Shane sighed. "Not the best day, not the worst day," he admitted. "I've got a chorus, I think, and rough ideas for the verses. I've chosen to stick with the tune you heard before, and just get the boys to add in more of a rock sound if they like it."

"Sounds like a good idea," Mitchie said. "You've gotten a lot done today."

He shrugged. "Kind of," he sighed. "I'm just really nervous about this whole thing, Mitchie. What if they don't like it or something? This is what I really, really enjoy doing right now, and it's how I'm feeling, and I don't want them to just throw it back at me and tell me they hate it."

Mitchie gave him a disbelieving look. "Do you really think they'd do that, Shane?" she asked softly. She received another shrug in response, and continued. "Look, not saying I'm a crazy little fan girl of Connect 3 or anything, but I have seen interviews with you guys, and one of the things that stands out in all of them is how much you guys think alike when it comes to your music. You all seem really supportive of each other." She paused. "At least, they seemed very supportive, and you seemed like a jerk," she corrected, laughing.

"Aw, thanks," Shane smirked back. "You're right, though, crazy little fan girl. We've always had similar ideas when it comes to music, right back to our days here at Camp Rock, which is why we got started."

"So don't you think that if even you, the supposedly self-absorbed one, are noticing the shift from what you used to love to the standard run of the mill pop music, Nate and Jason probably are too? Chances are that they're going to jump at the chance to get back to your old sound."

Choosing to ignore her shot at him, Shane said, "They might. They did sound receptive when I described what I was thinking to them on the phone the other day, so I guess that's a good thing."

Mitchie just shook her head and said, "You need to stop being so negative, Shane. Put yourself out there one more time. I promise you you'll get a better response than you're expecting." She hoped she wasn't lying to him.

Shane smiled and reached over to squeeze her hand. "Thank you," he said softly. "You know I'll do it, and I know I'll do it, because what else could I possibly do with you here pushing me in the right direction?"

Mitchie smiled as he kissed the top of her head. "Are you always so insecure?" she asked quietly, looking at him with a serious expression.

Shane shrugged and looked away, remaining silent.

"Hey," Mitchie said. "I'm not insulting you; it just surprises me is all."

He turned back to her, knowing she was being honest. "I'm insecure a lot of the time," he confessed quietly. "I just can't let it show. I'd be eaten alive if the label and the fans and the press knew I was so unsure about myself all the time. The boys know how I really feel, because they're pretty much the only people who actually know me. They know that the reason I've been rebelling is because I'm so insecure and I'm freaked out that we're going to be pegged into this role forever, which is really the only reason they let me get so crazy that the label had to step in." He paused. "A lot of things in life scare me, Mitchie, and I do all I can to hide it, but inside, I'm insecure as hell."

Mitchie leaned her head on his shoulder and kissed the side of his neck. "I have to admit that you do a good job of hiding it, Shane," she whispered. "But promise me that you won't hide it from me? I like knowing you're just like everyone else."

"Just like everyone else?" Shane pouted. "I thought I was special."

"Shut up, you know you are," Mitchie smiled. "You also know where I'm going with this. Just trust me, okay? Let me be there for you if you feel like freaking out because you're unsure. It's better to lean on someone else than develop insecurities on your own."

"I'm beginning to learn that," Shane said softly, interlacing his fingers with Mitchie's. They sat there for a while, just relaxing against each other, until Shane decided he wanted Mitchie's input on his song. "Not that I don't appreciate the pep talk, Dr. Phil, but any chance you want to help me come up with a verse for this song?"

Mitchie laughed. "I don't know if I'm exactly up to your standard of lyric-writing, Shane," she admitted.

Shane shrugged and let go of her hand so he could pick up his notebook. He passed it to her as he picked up the guitar, saying, "First of all, you know that's not true. And second of all, I'm serious. Can you please just look them over? You know exactly what I want this song to be about; maybe you can give me some ideas for the next couple of lines?"

He set about strumming randomly as Mitchie admitted defeat and skimmed the lyrics. Silence prevailed for a few moments as they sank in for her. Eventually, she gazed over at Shane softly picking at the strings of his guitar. "Can I hear it?" she asked shyly. "I like the lyrics, and I know the tune, and I want to hear how you meshed the two."

After thinking for a moment, Shane nodded. Before he could think better of what he was about to do and let his nerves set in, he took a deep breath and began to sing the chorus of a song he'd just begun to work out:

_Music's in my soul,  
I can hear it  
Every day and every night,  
It's the one thing on my mind.  
Music's got control,  
And I'm never letting go  
No, no,  
I just want to play my music._

He kind of trailed off, looking out over the water, still caught up in the tune. Although he was playing it acoustic, in his head he heard it with much more of a rock beat behind it, something catchy and light, to reflect how he felt about playing music that meant something to him – happy. Finally, he turned to Mitchie and raised his eyebrows, silently asking for her opinion.

She had been smiling since the moment he'd started singing. It was refreshing to hear him sing when they were alone like this, because it was at these times that it was blatantly obvious how in love he was with music. This was the true, purified version of the song he loved, and she knew he feared that it could easily be turned into another one of their bubblegum-sounding songs. But she'd enjoyed it; his voice had been full of emotion as he'd sung about how much music meant to him. Although it came off as a light-hearted tune, she knew it meant much more than that because he was talking about how deep his attachment to it was.

When he finally looked at her with his eyebrows raised, clearly wanting her opinion, she smiled back at him, and said, "It fits really well, Shane. It's perfect, and I think it's exactly what you want to say."

Shane looked pleased, and smiled back as he said, "Now I just need to figure out what else I want to say. Help me out?"

"Sure," Mitchie grinned, enjoying the thought of him turning to her for help writing a song, because she felt strangely confident in her abilities to determine what was important to him for lyrics such as these.

The two of them sat together for a couple of hours, taking turns with the guitar and singing, just testing random lyrics and melodies. By the time they heard movement over on the shoreline and turned to see Caitlyn step out on the first dock of the walkway, they had made substantial progress on his song, having written a rough outline of the verses and what he wanted them to consist of.

Shane raised his eyebrows at Mitchie as he recognized Caitlyn coming.

She just shrugged and smirked at him. "Don't go all introverted and turn back into an ass, Shane. It's not like she's got the paparazzi tagging along behind her."

He rolled his eyes back at her. "I wasn't even going to say anything!" he exclaimed, as she cast him a doubtful look. "Honest," he said more quietly, as Caitlyn approached them. "I'd never be mean to one of your friends," he admitted, squeezing her hand briefly before letting go.

Mitchie only had time to furrow her eyebrows together and glance at him before Caitlyn arrived, and spoke unsurely. "Hey, um, I don't really want to interrupt you guys, but Mitchie, we've got to get going…" she trailed off, looking at Mitchie and Shane in turn, and noticing their close proximity, before glancing out over the lake.

Mitchie started as she suddenly realized that Caitlyn was here because it was supper time, and they had to help her mother in the kitchen. "Oh my God!" she exclaimed, quickly rising to her feet. "I completely forgot, Cait, I'm sorry!"

"Don't worry about it," Caitlyn said easily. "We're not late or anything, I was just going for a walk and noticed you guys out here and figured I'd let you know in case you missed the time."

Mitchie was nodding, and Shane was watching this whole display with a quirked eyebrow.

"Miss Popular now, are you?" he grinned at her.

She rolled her eyes. "I'll never reach your degree of stardom, but I'm taking what I can get," she joked back. "I'm sorry though, I've really gotta head out. I completely forgot that Caitlyn and I have stuff to do tonight, and we need to get a start on it before supper," she lied to him smoothly.

"Don't worry about it," Shane waved away her apologies. "You helped me get farther today than I expected anyway, and I'll keep going for a while after supper."

"Let me know how it goes?" Mitchie asked, as she started moving away with Caitlyn.

"Of course," Shane smiled. He sent a wave at her, and then said, "See ya, Caitlyn."

Caitlyn's steps faltered as she looked behind her and back at Shane in surprise. "Bye, Shane," she said, slightly hesitantly, sending him a small smile.

Mitchie just waved back at him as the two of them walked away. She looked back as she and Caitlyn reached the end of the walkway to see him hunched over his guitar again, completely reabsorbed in the music.

"Who was that, and what the hell has he done with Shane Gray?" Caitlyn finally exclaimed once they were out of hearing distance.

Mitchie laughed and pulled Caitlyn along in the direction of the mess hall, breaking into a run. "We should really get in and help my mom, Caitlyn, but we'll talk about it later, I promise."

Caitlyn nodded her head as she bounded after Mitchie into the kitchen. "Damn right we will," she said quietly as she watched her friend disappear inside the building.

* * *

A/N: A thousand hits, and only 25 reviews? Can we try for **35** this time? Please? Comments make me happy, and make me work on the next chapter faster :) Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, I really appreciate it!

Biggest chapter yet! Thoughts?

Lyrics in the chapter are from "Play My Music" by Jonas Brothers (obviously not mine).

Chapter title is from "Walls" by The Rocket Summer.

February 22, 2010


	7. It's Like You Read Between the Minds

*Chapter 7: It's Like You Read Between the Minds*

* * *

Caitlyn kept her eye on Mitchie all through dinner, noticing how happy she seemed, despite having to eat at a table with Tess. Attributing Mitchie's mood to Shane Gray, Caitlyn was in complete disbelief that someone's happiness could actually result from interacting with such an idiot. She knew she would have to corner Mitchie after supper and ask her what the hell was going on.

While cleaning up the kitchen, Caitlyn informed Mitchie of her intentions to force the information out of her, and Mitchie eventually agreed, although reluctantly. After spending some time joking around with Connie and the rest of the kitchen staff, Mitchie and Caitlyn retreated to Connie's cabin to allow them privacy to talk away from their respective cabin-mates. Connie had stayed behind with some other staff members, deeply involved in conversation, so Mitchie immediately curled up on her mother's bed as her friend hopped up on her old bed and looked at her expectantly.

"What?" Mitchie finally exclaimed after a while of Caitlyn staring at her.

Caitlyn shrugged. "Waiting to see how long until you break down and tell me how fabulous Shane Gray is."

Mitchie threw a pillow at her. "Shut up," she groaned and buried her head in the comforter.

"Nope," Caitlyn said happily, swinging her feet up to sit cross-legged on the bed and leaning forward toward Mitchie. "Seriously, Mitchie," she said after a moment of silence. "Ever since you finally agreed to go meet him last night, you've been in a much better mood, and then I find you two together before dinner? I just want to know what's going on; I want to make sure he's actually behaving like a human being toward you."

Mitchie finally raised her head from the comforter to stare out the window into the darkness. "He's behaving like so much more than that," she said quietly. She turned to look at her friend, knowing she wasn't going to believe what would come out of her mouth next. "He's got _-feelings_, Caitlyn," she joked.

Mitchie was not disappointed at her friend's reaction. As Caitlyn's jaw dropped and her face developed a look of pure disbelief, Mitchie couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Not. Possible," Caitlyn finally managed.

Mitchie regained her composure and sighed. "I'm serious, Caitlyn. He's so different when he's with me, it's like he's a completely different person."

"What do you mean?" Caitlyn had also recovered from her shock and was now looking at Mitchie incredulously. "He's actually not being an asshole?"

"Not anymore. I hope I kind of knocked him out of behaving like that around me, I wasn't too fond of it. Do you really think I'd put up with that for this long?" Mitchie asked sarcastically.

Caitlyn threw her an odd expression. "No way he just changed his attitude!" she exclaimed. "How much have you two been hanging out?"

Mitchie shrugged. "Well, I ended up meeting him last night, and we stayed at the dock for a while. We worked through our issues, and it turns out we each thought the other regretted what happened the other night. And then this morning, he pulled off this hilarious joke on Tess, although I'm the only one who got it. But that's okay, because I'm pretty sure I'm the only one it was meant for," she paused, smiling to herself before she continued. "He told me to meet him when I was done, and I said I would. I ended up flipping out at Tess, which I had to apologize profusely for at supper, by the way," she said to Caitlyn's astounded expression. "But ignore that, she's a waste of time anyway. I told him when I finished, and he made me go on this ridiculous hunt to find him. I found him down at the docks where you came to get me, and we just sat there all afternoon and talked, and I helped him work on a song."

Caitlyn had reverted back to using her shocked expression. "Shane Gray," she said slowly. "Allowed you … to help him … work on one of his songs?" She saw Mitchie nod. "But then the boy couldn't claim full credit! He's going to try to cut you out of the money! Let's draw up a contract!"

Mitchie rolled her eyes at Caitlyn's over-reaction. "I didn't help him because I wanted credit, you fool. I helped him because it's just a natural part of hanging out with him. We seem to think alike when it comes to music and lyrics," she added, almost as an afterthought.

Caitlyn still looked astounded, but she motioned for Mitchie to continue, and by the time Mitchie was done talking, Caitlyn's eyebrows had risen past her hairline. "Are we talking about the same guy here, Mitchie? Because the Shane Gray that I've seen around Camp Rock so far is definitely not the one you're talking about. _That_ Shane Gray hates campers, and generally avoids people at all costs. He's also an egotistical ass who has no respect for anyone at all. And you, my dear Mitchie, are completely the opposite of that. How the _hell_ did you two end up hanging out?"

"He's not like that!" Mitchie insisted with a shrug. "Look, I get that it's weird, okay? And it's even weirder for me to admit this, but when we hang out, it's so easy to forget that he's some huge celebrity because everything about him contradicts what I've heard from the media. I mean, I know he's still a huge jerk generally whenever he's around people here, but for some reason, he just acts differently with me," she paused, and then continued with another small shrug. "He just acts normal."

Caitlyn still appeared floored, although a strange look of understanding was crossing her face. "Oh my God, Mitchie, you like him don't you?" she exclaimed softly. "I mean, _actually_ like him?" she looked at Mitchie as her friend buried her head in the blankets again.

"Maybe," Mitchie admitted softly. She laid there for a moment with her heard covered, before raising it and looking at Caitlyn. "We kind of made out last night," she said sheepishly.

Caitlyn looked flabbergasted again, and Mitchie had to admit it was hilarious to see her typically unfazed friend repeatedly shocked.

"Mitchie!" she cried. "How did you not mention this before?"

"I don't know, okay?" Mitchie said helplessly. "I mean, it wasn't like I wasn't going to tell you, I told you about the kisses last week! And, come on, it's not like I'm going to go run off and tell Tess that happened instead of you."

"Why not?" Caitlyn yelled. "You totally just made out with a celebrity, and one that she wants to have for herself more than anything. I'd _so_ use that against her."

"Because I don't want him to think he means that little to me, Cait. I honestly don't even know what it means, maybe it was a one time thing. But I do know I'm not the kind of person to use others to get ahead. I may have lied about my mother's profession, but no way would I use someone like that. And he's been used too much, Cait, you should see him talk about it. He's surprisingly sensitive…" she trailed off, a happy look in her eyes.

A grin slowly appeared on Caitlyn's face as she saw the faraway look in Mitchie's eyes. "You really, _really_ like him, don't you?" she repeated again, more seriously this time.

"I really think so," Mitchie answered quietly. "It kind of scares me that it happened so fast, but he's just so different than I expected, Caitlyn."

"That part I get, because now I really want to meet this guy you've been talking about. That is definitely not the Shane Gray I know."

"You know?" Mitchie asked with a raised eyebrow and a grin.

Caitlyn rolled her eyes. "I've _met_," she clarified. "Although I did meet him the summer before he got signed. He and the other two were just campers here, and I ran into him a couple of times, but never really talked to him. It was my first year and he was older, so…"

"That's so strange!" Mitchie said. "I've never actually thought about the fact that some campers here probably remember them from a few years ago."

Caitlyn shook her head. "I'm one of very few left, actually," she said. "They were really friendly when they were here, but they mostly stuck to themselves because they all loved music so much and worked so well together. Excuse the pun, but they connected with each other more than with anyone else. By that point, they'd been best friends for years, and so not many people intruded on them. So the few of us that are still here from way back then don't really know them at all."

"I guess a lot can change in just a few years," Mitchie said, her mind wandering. "I do find it kind of funny that you avoided the scary older campers," she said teasingly.

"Well, when you're thirteen, just barely a teenager, and only one of them is within a year of your own age, it's kind of a big barrier to hop over. Jason, especially, was intimidating."

"Jason?" Mitchie sputtered. "The guy seems like one of the most easily distracted, goofy people on the planet. Or at least that's how he comes off in interviews."

"Didn't Shane come off as a jerk, though?" Caitlyn teased back.

"Shane _is_ a jerk," Mitchie corrected her friend. "Just not with me, for some reason. But forget about him, keep explaining."

"Okay," Caitlyn laughed at the undivided attention her friend was giving her, loving how Mitchie was so interested in her own perspective on the early days of Connect 3. "He was seventeen, Mitchie! He was seriously scary to me, and a lot of the younger campers, because of the huge difference in age. I mean, we were still in middle school, and he was at the end of high school. Kids my age would have been just as annoying to him as the little kids are to us today. It's not like I could have just walked up to him and been all buddy buddy." She threw her friend an irritated look.

Mitchie just laughed. "Excuse accepted," she said with a smile. "Although I maintain that you were just scared of older kids in general."

Caitlyn threw a pillow at her, and that ended all serious conversation for the night as the two of them had a pillow fight, before collapsing in laughing fits. Soon after, they said goodnight and headed to their respective cabins to get to sleep.

* * *

After Mitchie had left him at the dock, Shane had done exactly as he'd said he would, and had spent a few more hours down there scribbling out lyrics and trying random combinations of notes to come up with the perfect melody for the last verse. He'd accomplished a lot, not least of all because Mitchie had pushed him in a direction that he'd whole-heartedly agreed with, and yet hadn't thought of himself.

Mitchie. He had no idea what was going on between them. She was good for him, that much he knew, because she seemed to be able to read him so well already, as evidenced by her ability to help him come up with the perfect lyrical elements for his song. All he knew was that he wanted to keep hanging out with her, and if that was all it was, then he'd accept it. But he wouldn't lie to himself and deny that his feelings for her were starting to grow.

As night fell on the lake, Shane sighed, picked up his things, and headed up to his cabin, calling it quits for the night. Sitting at the lake was a huge inspiration for him; there was something about being outdoors in such a beautiful setting that just inspired him to write. It was this setting that had encouraged his band's first songs, and he hoped that being back here would allow him to reconnect with those feelings.

His stomach grumbled, reminding him that he hadn't had a bite to eat in several hours, and he rushed through the camp, keeping away from the busier paths to give him the best chance at avoiding any campers out for a late night stroll. Reaching the cabin he shared with his uncle Brown, Shane set his things down on his bed and immediately rummaged through the cupboards in the small kitchenette. There wasn't much food kept there, as Brown refused to let his nephew make food in their cabin and completely ignore the campers. Shane rolled his eyes as he thought about Brown's reasoning that it was good for him to make those connections with the campers, even if he barely said a word or even glanced at any of them. But even Brown needed late night food, and so there were plenty of chips and snacks around for Shane to fill his stomach with. Not the healthiest stuff around, but it would definitely do.

Looking at the time, Shane decided not to text Mitchie because he figured she'd still be with Caitlyn. Instead, he flipped open his cell phone, dialed Nate's cell phone number, and flopped backward on the bed.

After four rings, he heard Nate say, "Shane?"

"Hey, man!" Shane grinned, sitting up.

"Dude, you sound different than the last time we talked," Shane heard Jason say, and he realized he was on speakerphone. "I mean, not quite as pissed off."

Shane rolled his eyes. "I know, but that's exactly why I'm calling you. Remember how I said I'd written a little bit of a new song? Kind of like the stuff we miss writing from years ago?"

"Yeah…" Nate said slowly, unsure where Shane was going with this.

"Well, you know how I said I'd called the label and they hadn't been very receptive to the new sound?" Shane heard both of his friends answer in the affirmative. "Well, I was going to give up on it entirely," he admitted. "I felt boxed in, and I freaked out. I was a jerk to the campers again –"

"No surprise there," Nate interjected, only half-joking.

"I know," Shane admitted. "But it was just one more instance of them putting us in a neat little pop star box, and you know how much I hate that, guys. I know you guys even hate it!"

"We do," he heard Jason say. "But what are we supposed to do about it?"

"We've got contracts, Shane," Nate said tiredly. "And we've been through this before. As much as we all want out of this sound, we don't have any real option. Look what happened when we let you rebel and refuse to do it anymore."

"I know," Shane said quietly. "And that was the conclusion I came to too – that we couldn't do anything about it. But then I fixed things with Mitchie the other night –"

"Ooh," Jason said, cutting him off again. "Tell us!"

Shane heard Nate laugh, and responded, "We each just thought the other was upset for completely opposite reasons. But we fixed it, and I told her about what happened with the label –"

"What?" Jason exclaimed, cutting Shane off yet again. Shane didn't get frustrated though; he knew it was just how Jason was.

But this time, Nate also put forth his opinion. "Seriously, Shane? You actually shared something about what you were feeling with some random camper you met there?"

Shane rolled his eyes. "What have I been telling you guys? She's just different, somehow. I don't get that feeling that we always get that I have to watch myself in case she goes and does a tell-all. And, I mean, we've hung out a few times, and so far there haven't been any rumours floating around camp at all, meaning she hasn't told anyone. That alone shows she's different than any other girl any of us have ever met since this bullshit started, so doesn't that mean she deserves a chance?"

Silence greeted his remarks. Finally, Nate spoke up quietly, "You never would have said any of that a month ago, Shane. Never," he said vehemently. "You never would have even allowed someone the chance to get to know anything about you, and you never would have waited to see what they thought about any of it. This little conclusion never would have been reached." He paused. "She seems to have really changed you, man."

Shane was slightly shocked. "Is that a bad thing?" he asked finally.

"No," both Nate and Jason said immediately, and Shane smiled at that.

"It's nice, actually," Nate admitted quietly. "It's kind of like having the old you back."

A pang of guilt stabbed through Shane at Nate's remark. "I'm sorry, guys," he said to his best friends. "You know me better than anyone else in the world, and you know I never meant to hurt you with my antics. I just felt boxed in…" he trailed off.

"And how is that part any different now?" Nate asked finally.

"That's where Mitchie comes in," Shane answered, a smile finally creeping back onto his face. "After I explained everything to her, she asked if you guys felt the same way I did. I said you did, and then she asked if you'd heard any of my new stuff. When I said no, she suggested that I play some of it for you guys, and then if you liked it, we could mix it and produce it ourselves."

"Not bad, but then what would we do with it?" Jason asked.

"The brilliant Ms. Torres suggested that we, ourselves, arrange a secret appearance of some sort, so that the label doesn't find out about it beforehand. She said that once we've played it, it's out there. And if the public's response to the song is good, there's no way the label can hold us back from going in that direction anymore."

More silence greeted his words, but this time, he knew his friends well enough to know what to expect. And he wasn't disappointed.

"That…" Nate trailed off.

"Is beautiful," Jason finished for him. Shane smiled as he heard Nate agree.

"I think that this needs to be done fairly soon," Shane continued. "I don't know how much longer I can take the oppression from the label before I completely lose it, and I'm really excited about the new ideas I have. What do you guys think about a jam session soon?"

"Definitely!" he heard Nate exclaim, and he had to admit that he was excited to hear the enthusiasm in his best friend's voice; it had been too long since they'd actually agreed on something musically, and he knew they were all interested in the prospect of making music they could be proud of again.

* * *

A/N: THANK YOU for the reviews! They made my week :) Please keep it up! If a lot come in by the end of the weekend (let's say **around 50ish** total?), maybe I'll upload another chapter…

First (kind of) appearance by Nate and Jason... thoughts? I've got some interesting plans for all of these characters, we're just getting started.

Also, I love the speculations and ideas you guys are leaving in the reviews. I've got a general outline of the first part of the story done, but I'm definitely considering anything you guys say!

Final note (wow this is long, sorry): tweet me! I'm ladykacey on twitter, and I'm quite a big talker, if you haven't been able to tell from the story! :)

Chapter title is from "Between the Minds" by Jack Savoretti.

February 27, 2010


	8. A Feeling You Thought You'd Forgotten

*Chapter 8: Here Comes A Feeling You Thought You'd Forgotten*

* * *

The next morning after breakfast, Mitchie walked toward the dance cabin, excited for the day ahead of her. She and Caitlyn had had a great talk the night before, she'd managed to smooth things out with Tess regarding her departure from practice, and she and Shane had texted each other until late in the night. Now that she knew Shane had had a good reason for acting the way he had last week in their class, she was kind of expecting him to be fairly pleasant, but distant in his teaching today.

She arrived at class and greeted Tess, Peggy, and Ella, before sitting down with them and stretching. People kept pouring in over the next few minutes, and Mitchie watched them all shifting nervously. She suddenly realized that this was the first class since Shane had flipped out the previous Thursday, and none of them had any reason to expect him to be any different today.

She enjoyed their surprised reactions as Shane quietly entered the room and smiled briefly at everyone before walking to the front and looking out at them all.

"Today, we're just going to do a run through of what I attempted to teach you last time, although I know that didn't go so well on my end," Shane started.

The campers just looked at each other, surprise still written all over their faces. They knew it wasn't exactly an apology, but instead a vague admission of fault; since that was more than they had come to expect of Shane Gray, they didn't question it, and followed right along with the class.

Mitchie had to hide a smile at the look that Caitlyn was giving her as Shane moved around behind her as she performed the dance moves. She convinced herself that he was just looking at her the same as he was everyone else as he walked around the room through the lines of dancers. But she still felt briefly self-conscious, which was a fairly new feeling with him. Usually she was so self-assured; but in this instance, she was very clearly the student, and she hated feeling like he was judging her. But she continued performing, dancing her heart out and doing her best, until he turned off the music and told everyone that class was over.

She watched Shane as he turned away from the campers and busied himself with the stereo equipment, making it absolutely clear through his actions that he did not want to be bothered by campers wanting to tell him they were fans. Mitchie almost grinned at how obvious his subtleties were, but she knew that would look weird to Tess, who was nagging at her to hurry up because they were ready to leave.

Shane turned around at that moment, and caught sight of them all still standing there, which seemed to cause Tess to snap her attention to him immediately. She plastered on another fake smile, and was about to open her mouth, when he lifted his hand in a small wave, shot a very hard look at Mitchie, and then retreated out the back door.

Tess seemed exasperated that he hadn't wanted to talk, but of course, since she would never admit defeat, she simply remarked that they would catch up later on in private, away from onlookers. She pranced over to the door, leaving Peggy and Ella and Mitchie behind, rolling their eyes at each other over how delusional Tess was behaving.

"Are you guys coming, or what?" Tess snapped, now leaning against the door, glaring at them all expectantly.

"Yeah, Tess," Ella sighed. "We're coming," and she and Peggy headed over to her.

Mitchie, however, stayed rooted to her spot. She was positive that she had been the only one to catch the look Shane was giving her as he was leaving the cabin, and even though she had no idea what it meant, she was sure it implied something. And her finding out the meaning behind it completely depended on getting away from Tess.

"I think I'm going to stay here," she said, looking at Tess. In order to get rid of the odd look of curiosity that had appeared on Tess's face, Mitchie offered, "I was falling behind a little bit, so I'm going to get some practice in before I forget the steps."

Tess's expression turned smug immediately, just as Mitchie had known it would. "Good idea, Mitchie, you could definitely use it," Tess agreed rudely. "I don't want you dancing behind me and making me look bad if you can't do the steps properly. Have fun!" she said saucily, before leaning on the door to open it and going outside, leaving the door to shut in Peggy's and Ella's faces.

"Ignore her," Ella said quietly, as she and Peggy also neared the door.

"You're fine," Peggy agreed. "Practice all you want, but you're still a better dancer than she'll ever be." And with that, both Peggy and Ella disappeared outside, following Tess.

Mitchie watched them go, wondering why they felt so doomed to follow Tess, when it was becoming increasingly obvious to her that they both hated it and felt like they were treated horribly. Those thoughts brought her back to wondering why she herself had wanted to be a part of Tess's group to begin with, even after meeting Caitlyn and knowing that she was cool and was certainly not a part of the 'lemmings'. Before she could contemplate those thoughts any further, however, she was jolted back into reality by the quiet slam of the back door.

She whipped her head around to see Shane leaning against one of the columns of speakers. He was looking at her with a speculative expression, and her heart leapt as she realized that she'd read him right; he had wanted her to stay behind. She started toward him, and when she got close enough, he reached out and grabbed her hand.

"Why did you say that?" he questioned softly, looking into her eyes with furrowed brows.

She shrugged, not wanting to talk about it. "Knew it would get her out of here," she said, knowing it wasn't a lie, and also not the full truth. "That super-secretive glare you gave me had me wondering what was up, and I figured I wouldn't find out if she was around."

"So you knocked yourself down so she could feel superior?"

Mitchie was growing uncomfortable with this line of questioning. "She already feels superior to everyone, Shane. And I clearly did it for selfish reasons. Makes sense to me. Now drop it," she said, and her tone made it clear that it was the end of the discussion.

He looked into her eyes for a few more seconds, wondering if he should let it go. He could tell that she was uncomfortable, and didn't want her to feel as though he was ambushing her with questions, and so he nodded his head and smiled, letting her know he was allowing it to pass.

He tugged her hand to get her to follow him outside through the back door, and they began walking together down a trail she hadn't been on before. After a few minutes of silence, she asked, "Where are we going?"

"I just need to tell you something," Shane responded. "But I didn't want to do it where we could be overheard, and my cabin's just down this path. Figured it was easier to go here than anywhere else."

Mitchie's heart began to beat faster as she realized he was taking her back to his cabin. She knew he just wanted to talk, but the optimistic and romantic part of her mind wanted her to believe that this was more than an indication of trust, and was a serious gesture of familiarity.

"You don't have class right after mine, do you?" Shane's voice cut through her thoughts again.

She shook her head. "No, I've got a free period now."

"Good," he grinned, grabbing her hand again as they came around the side of the cabin and he dashed up the porch stairs, pulling her behind him. He went around to the back deck, which was almost entirely hidden by trees, except for a clearing directly in front of it, allowing for a breathtaking view of the lake. She pulled away from him and walked forward to lean on the railing, simply looking out over the water.

"Living on the edge of camp has its perks," Shane admitted with a smile, coming up to stand next to Mitchie against the railing. "One of which is privacy, but this view isn't too shabby, either."

Mitchie could only nod her head in agreement, still gazing out over the lake, amazed that she could see so much from here. She could see the dock, and straight across to the other island where they had boated to last week and had the best campfire of her life.

Shane loved to see Mitchie so spaced out; she was so caught up in her memories that he had to repeat her name several times before she finally tore her gaze away.

"I'm sorry!" she exclaimed immediately. "But, I mean, it's completely your fault for seriously not expecting me to be captured by the view. Pretty sure I said yesterday that scenes like this inspire me to write."

"You did," Shane nodded with a grin. "This is actually one of my favourite places to write, because of this view. And that's actually why I brought you here."

Mitchie cocked her head at him. "To finish writing the song? Now?"

Shane shook his head. "Not now, no. Just had to tell you something." He shifted his gaze back out over the lake, and Mitchie knew something important was coming, because he was really only quiet around her when he really wanted to share something personal.

"I called Nate and Jason last night," Shane said, still looking at the water. "I told them that I regretted freaking out over the label's rejection last week, and they said they believed me, but asked me what I was going to do to change my reactions, because the label wouldn't be changing their opinion any time soon. So I told them about your plan."

"And?" Mitchie said, after a moment of him not speaking. Now that she knew what he'd wanted to talk about, she was extremely anxious his answer. Had his best friends, members of the most popular band in the country at the moment, hated her idea? Or liked it, even a little bit?

"They loved it," Shane said, breaking her out of her thoughts.

She stared at him in disbelief.

"Seriously," he grinned, finally looking over at her. He reached over and laid his hand on top of hers, intertwining their fingers again. "They think you're just as brilliant as I do."

"Do they think I'm just as spontaneous as you do?" she asked teasingly.

Shane shook his head vehemently. "They damn well better not," he said with a laugh. He pulled her hand, bringing her toward him, and moved behind her to wrap his arms around her in a hug from behind, and she nestled into his warm body, both of them looking out over the lake.

"We're getting together tomorrow night, actually," Shane said softly from where his head was positioned on her shoulder. "I'm going to play the song for them, maybe see if we can mix it a little bit if they like it."

Mitchie raised her eyebrows. "You're allowed to just take off from camp like that?"

She felt Shane shrug. "Don't know, and don't care," he said.

She closed her eyes, preparing herself for a fight with the jerky side of Shane Gray, but he cut her off first.

"I'm not saying that because I'm being a demanding little celebrity," Shane said quickly. "I'm saying it because it's something I want _so_ badly that I can't think about anything else. And I would not want to do something against Brown's wishes, which is the only reason I've been going along with everything so far, but honestly, I think he'll be all for it. He likes it when I get absorbed in the music like I have been."

She stayed silent for a few moments, just enjoying standing there in his arms. "I'm really happy for you, Shane," she whispered finally. "It's about time you have the chance to share with your best friends one of the best songs you've written in a while."

"Ooh," Shane cut in with a smile. "So you think our other stuff sucks, huh?"

"Didn't say that!" Mitchie said quickly, laughing. "This one is just so amazing, so _you_, and so fun, that it doesn't seem weighed down by any false stuff that makes it seem like you're trying too hard. And that was not a rip on you or Connect 3, just on the music industry in general. I'm aware that the versions that come out in the end are probably pretty far off from the ideas that spawned them, and I like that you've stayed pretty true to yourself through all your work on this song."

Shane grinned into her shoulder, and planted a kiss against the side of her neck. "I don't know if you know how much of an impact you've had on me already," he admitted quietly.

"Back at you," she said, squeezing his arms more tightly around her.

They stood there in their embrace for a little while longer, before Shane reluctantly righted himself and pulled away. "Unfortunately, you've got a class to go to soon, and I've got a class to go teach."

Mitchie groaned, but allowed him to break contact with her. They moved back around the cabin and down the stairs on the other side, and headed back up the trail. As they neared the end of the path and the common area where it intersected with other trails, Shane grabbed her hand and halted her.

"Will you help me finish the song tonight?" he asked her.

"Of course," she said, smiling up at him. "But only if you roast me marshmallows, and don't burn them this time."

He frowned. "That's how I like them, though!"

She smiled and began walking up a trail away from him. "Not everything's about you, rock star."

* * *

The rest of the day flew by for Mitchie, as she looked forward to hanging out with Shane that night. Her vocal and guitar classes, with Brown and Dee respectively, provided her with ample opportunity to work on a sound for both Shane's song and one that she was working on herself.

She was scared to admit it, but spending so much time with Shane had definitely given her a lot of inspiration. Something about seeing how driven he was to write his music had provoked something inside her, and she wanted nothing more than to be back down at the lake with him, testing out melodies and scribbling down lyrics. Keeping herself busy with thoughts of Shane, she could almost forget about the lie she'd told everyone that had landed her in this situation to begin with.

* * *

A/N: I've had a lot of hits on this story, but the reviews are still pretty low, and I'm unsure if that means I shouldn't continue with it? I need to know what you guys are thinking and if it's worth it to keep posting chapters, so _please_ let me know? Thank you **so** much to everyone who has reviewed, it really makes me happy to read them all after writing so many midterms lately.

Also, to answer one of the reviews from last chapter, by "love. my .life": you're totally right – Mitchie hasn't thought about her lie at all much so far, even though she's expecting a lot of honesty out of Shane. It's kind of more that she's amazed that he's even willing to hang out with her though, because she sees herself as really average and she sort of sees the person he is outside of Camp Rock as being on a pedestal. She's going to be thinking about her lie a lot more often, though, as things start getting really intensely dramatic in a couple of chapters. Here's the thing, though: there's a _lot_, and I mean a LOT of stuff that's left to happen before the reveal of the lie happens like in the movie. We still have to meet Nate and Jason, and bring a few other things to light. So, to sum up a super-rambling answer: she'll deal a little bit with her lie in the next chapter, but I can't really do much about that since the whole plotline of this story is to follow the movie exactly as it happened. Sorry!

Coming up next: Smitchie cuteness. :) Now that the Olympics are over and I don't have a legit excuse for ignoring everything in life anymore, I've hopefully got some more time to write. So I may be able to update again this weekend if you guys say you want it!

Chapter title is from "Horchata" by Vampire Weekend.

March 5, 2010


	9. The Night That I Will Fall For You

*Chapter 9: Because Tonight Will Be the Night That I Will Fall For You*

* * *

After classes, she helped her mother in the kitchen, and then headed to supper with Ella and Peggy, because Tess was nowhere to be found.

"How was your day, Mitchie?" Ella asked as she slid into her seat after collecting her food.

"Oh, you know," Mitchie said. "Went by fast, what with me practicing my dancing to satisfy Tess."

Peggy rolled her eyes. "Don't bother," she advised. "First of all, there's nothing wrong with your dancing. And second of all, she's never going to let up on any of us. If you get better than her, she'll put you down and not allow anyone to see how good you really are. If you don't practice, she'll put you down for sucking. Just take it from Ella and I, Mitchie, it's better to just let her run her mouth and do what she says."

Mitchie was surprised at Peggy's words. She'd known that her and Ella hated the way Tess treated them, but she had never heard either of them speak against her before. "If you hate that she acts like that toward you, why do you put up with it?"

"Because she could hurt us a lot if we decided to cross her," Ella spoke up with a shrug. "And we've been her lackeys for so long that that's the only way people see us. It's too late to change anyone's opinion, so we stick with what we've got."

"At least this way, we have some sort of connection, even if it is to the bitch of the camp," Peggy added.

Their words gave Mitchie a lot to think about, but she was prevented from responding as Tess finally showed up and plunked her meal down to announce her presence.

"Where've you been?" Ella asked brightly, all traces of the previous heavy conversation gone.

Tess glanced around at all of them. "I got a phone call from my mother," she said smugly, looking around at them all. "She's going to be in L.A. later this week and wants to drop by to see me."

Mitchie's heart kind of went out to her at those words. Tess should have been happy and excited her mother was coming because it was what mothers did, not smug and cocky because her superstar mother found time in her schedule to fit her in. She lost track of the conversation then as the three of them rambled about how wonderful it would be for TJ Tyler to show up.

"What's wrong with you tonight?" Tess's voice finally cut into Mitchie's thoughts.

"I'm not really feeling well," Mitchie lied. "Haven't been all day."

"Well, this food, if you can call it that, wouldn't really help things," Tess said in disgust, pushing her plate away with much of the food still on it.

Mitchie fought the urge to defend her mother, saying instead, "Actually, I really like the meals here, so I don't think that has anything to do with it. I think I'll just go for a walk or something tonight and get some fresh air."

"Probably a good idea, Mitchie," Peggy said. "Being outside and not cooped up will definitely help you out."

Mitchie silently thanked Peggy for providing her with back up for her excuse to get away that night. Pushing her seat back and standing up, she said, "I'm going to go lie down for a little while first. I'll see you guys later."

"Sure," Peggy said, as she and Ella waved goodbye, while Tess kept her mouth shut and simply glared at Mitchie as she walked away.

Mitchie felt odd about the look Tess had given her, but shrugged it off as she left the mess hall, made sure no one was watching her, and circled around to the back to enter the kitchen.

"Hey, Mom," she greeted her mother with a kiss.

"Hi, Mitchie!" Connie responded, giving her daughter a hug. The two spent an hour talking while cleaning up the kitchen together, and Mitchie found herself extremely thankful that her mother was nothing like TJ Tyler seemed to be, despite her lie. She regretted having said that more and more every day, but concluded that she was too far deep in it already to retract her statements now. Caitlyn came in partway through Mitchie's cleanup, and the three of them joked around easily with each other.

When everything was almost done and Caitlyn was the only one in the kitchen with her, Mitchie received the first text message from Shane: _Still on for tonight?_

_You know it_ she texted back with a grin.

_Meet me down by the dock around 8 again? You okay with going back to the island?_

Mitchie's heart fluttered as she thought about spending time with him on the island, where it was guaranteed to be just the two of them. _More than okay. See you at 8_ she responded, flipping the phone shut again and focusing on finishing up in the kitchen.

Caitlyn had watched as Mitchie spent a few minutes intensely focusing on her phone, and once her friend had put it back in her pocket, she walked over to her and leaned against the counter. "Shane?" she asked.

Mitchie nodded. "Yeah, we're hanging out again tonight. He wants to finish the song."

Caitlyn sighed, and Mitchie caught it. At the raise of her friend's eyebrows, Caitlyn said carefully, "Don't take this the wrong way, Mitch, because I'm glad that you guys are getting along so well. It's just… I mean, the more he lets you in and the more you help him out, I can't help but think you're setting yourself up to be hurt."

"What do you mean?" Mitchie frowned in confusion.

"You lied, Mitchie," Caitlyn said bluntly. "Since the first day you got here, you lied about your mom, and it's just kind of spiraled from there. Remember how pissed I was when I found out? It can only end up worse for you and Shane. You know I've never been a fan of the guy, but I think you've got to tell him before this blows up and you really hurt him too."

Mitchie was silent as she continued to clean off the counters, thinking about her friend's words. "I've thought about it, Cait," she admitted finally. "A lot. But the way I figure it, it's gonna look bad no matter what. Either way, he's not going to be happy with me. And I'm afraid that if he finds out I lied about that, he's going to think I'm just trying to use him or something. It just seems like my only option is to let this play out, and hope that eventually we just get close enough for it to not be that big of a deal if the truth ever does come out."

Caitlyn sighed, and reached out to grasp Mitchie's arm so that her friend would stop cleaning and focus on her instead. "I hope you know what you're doing, Mitchie," she said seriously. "Do what you need to do, and you know I'm always here to back you up. I'm just trying to prevent a major disaster here, because we all know how Shane Gray gets when things don't go his way."

Appreciating her friend's attempt to lighten the intense atmosphere, Mitchie let a grin come over her face. "And I'm gonna do everything I can to make sure he doesn't get hurt," she promised.

Nodding, Caitlyn let go of Mitchie's arm, and began cleaning up again. The two of them slid easily back into their familiar banter, and it was enough to allow Mitchie to push the conversation to the back of her mind.

* * *

A few minutes before 8, Mitchie hurried back to her cabin, pulled on some jeans and a hoodie, slipped into her sneakers, and headed down toward the lake. As she neared the beach, she headed immediately toward the dock where she knew Shane would be waiting. Sure enough, after bypassing the few people hanging out on the sand, she found him lounging in the motorboat underneath the dock, looking completely relaxed as he leaned back against it with his eyes closed.

She crept up behind him and leaned her face down next to his ear. "Oh my God, it's Shane Gray!" Mitchie exclaimed loudly, quickly falling over with laughter as Shane sat up and scrambled forward on the boat, looking around wildly with a terrified expression on his face.

When he finally spotted Mitchie and began to realize what had happened, he relaxed obviously, sagging back against the boat and putting his head backward, running a hand over his face as his chest heaved.

"That," he panted, trying to get his heart rate down, "was not cool."

Mitchie was still giggling as she hopped into the boat and kneeled down in front of him. "Would've thought you'd be used to all those fans screaming excitedly at you?"

"Not when I'm hiding under a dock where they can't even find me," he glared.

"Just trying to keep you on your guard," she grinned.

Shane rolled his eyes and moved past her to return to the back of the boat. "Maybe you should be on your guard so you don't get pushed into the lake," he growled, making Mitchie laugh even harder as he started the motor and they headed out onto the water.

After a few moments of silence, Mitchie began to grow worried at the serious look on his face. "Shane, are you actually mad?"

She saw him struggle to hide a smile for a moment, and then his face softened. "Okay," he admitted. "It was mildly funny."

"Oh, come on!" Mitchie's face broke into a grin. "That was hilarious!"

Shane laughed and said, "Kind of, yes, because I didn't expect it. Guess that's what I get for letting my guard down."

"Mmm, maybe you should learn not to do that in the future," Mitchie teased.

Shane shrugged. "Not my fault that I trust you and you abused that trust."

Mitchie rolled her eyes and groaned. "Milking this for all it's worth, aren't you?" She saw Shane nod vigorously. "Pretty sure you've done stuff like that to me before. And I'm even more sure you'll do stuff like that in the future. I'm just getting my fun in while I can." She looked out over the lake, internally scolding herself for adding that last part.

Shane frowned. "While you can?"

Mitchie turned back to him with a smile on her face. "While the night is young, hot shot," she quickly covered. She didn't feel like telling him that she was worried he wouldn't want to be friends anymore after their time at camp was over.

Looking at her oddly, Shane just cracked a smile, and continued to steer them toward the beach on the opposite side of the lake. Reaching it, he helped her out, and the two of them followed the trail to the fire pit. While Shane worked on lighting it, Mitchie grabbed the blanket and spread it out on the sand.

They sat facing each other on the blanket beside the fire for a while, scribbling down lyrics and taking turns with Shane's guitar. Finally, about two hours later, Shane leaned back with a grin on his face. "I think we may finally be done."

"We?" Mitchie asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Um, yeah. I think I recall you being with me writing this for the past couple of days."

"I just helped you along a little, they were your ideas," Mitchie said shyly, turning her gaze toward the crackling fire. Her attention was brought back when she felt Shane grab her hand.

"Hey," he said softly. "I don't think you have any idea how much of this is because of you. You reminded me of the music I love, and helped me write something light-hearted and meaningful for once. I _need_ you to understand how thankful I am, Mitch."

Mitchie was a little blown away at his words. It warmed her heart to know that he appreciated her so much. "It was fun, Shane, and you're welcome. It'll be nice to know I had some small part in it when I hear this song on the radio pretty soon."

"Going back to making those assumptions you like so much, are you?" Shane laughed.

"Come on, Shane, like you really believe this won't be a hit song. As a fan, I know it's good, and I know I'll love it when you kick in the beat with Nate and Jason. Hearing it will be a great reminder of the days I spent at camp with Shane Gray, rock star extraordinaire." At this, she smiled sadly as she realized yet again that this perfect little world where she and Shane were close wouldn't last forever. The idea that he would be returning to the real world, where more than a few camp girls screaming his name provided testament to his celebrity status, had been in the back of her mind since the night before, and it was beginning to make her sad. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice the look of surprise on Shane's face.

He saw the faraway look in her eyes and grew concerned after a moment. He reached out and caught her chin in his hand, turning her face toward him. "Why do you look so sad all of a sudden?"

Mitchie tried to recover and forced a smile. "Sorry, got distracted."

He shook his head. "Don't do that, Mitch, don't lie to me. Your ability to be honest with me is one of the things I like most about you; please don't avoid whatever it is. You know you can talk to me."

"I know," Mitchie said softly, her eyes never leaving his. "And that's what I was thinking about – how much I'll miss talking to you after camp, because you're a really great guy and I enjoy spending time with this side of you. It'll just be strange to go back to seeing you as a huge celebrity on TV."

Shane was shocked. "Mitchie," he said, shaking his head. "When did we ever agree that we'd never speak to each other again after this summer?"

Mitchie's eyebrows drew together in a frown. "Well, I just assumed you'd have no need for some random camp girl once you got back out in the real world."

Shane laughed and shook his head. "That assumption is seriously the worst one you've made yet." Mitchie glared at him, and he continued more seriously. "Okay, let's re-hash a little bit. Have I not told you that I don't trust easily? That I enjoy your company? And, I mean, clearly I've wanted to hang out with you a lot. I'm not sure why you think that would change just because we're not at camp anymore." He paused for a moment to let the information sink in for her, and looked into her eyes. "And I don't know if you've noticed, but I kinda like you."

Mitchie blushed at his words, even as her heart fluttered. "That's good to hear," she commented softly. "Because I kinda like you, too."

Shane grinned and leaned over to brush his lips against hers. "I have no plans of giving this up when we leave camp."

"This?" Mitchie asked softly, maneuvering to sit beside him and resting her head on his shoulder. "What is this, Shane?"

Shane was silent for a few moments, before he turned his head and kissed the top of hers. "Will you be my girlfriend, Mitchie Torres?" he murmured against her hair.

Mitchie froze in surprise and then whipped her head around to look into his nervous face. "Are you serious?" she whispered back. She saw him nod, and a huge smile lit up her face. "Yes, Shane, yes! Of course!"

Shane's face also split into a grin, and he immediately attacked Mitchie with kisses. She laughed and kissed him back enthusiastically, overwhelmed with happiness.

* * *

A/N: They're finally official! Caitlyn was serious for once and tried to snap Mitchie out of it! And Tess is a bitch! Surprise!

Haha okay so I've finally realized that this is going to be an absolutely monstrous story. The total word count on my computer is close to 100,000 already and there are a hell of a lot of chapters left to write. And your reviews have been absolutely wonderful, so I figured that I'd put up another chapter tonight. No idea when the next one will come – maybe tomorrow, but if not, probably not till late in the week because I have an insane amount of papers due.

Thanks for reviewing, I really just needed to know that people were enjoying it :) Also, to Angielala, thanks for your detailed thoughts on each chapter! Something you said gave me an idea (although I'm clearly not going to say what haha), so thanks for that. I'll mention it when we get to it a while from now. Everyone's thoughts and encouraging comments were greatly appreciated, please continue to let me know what you think!

Chapter title is from "Fall For You" by Secondhand Serenade.

March 7, 2010


	10. At Least Now I Can Say That I Am Trying

**Rating changed to M. Explanation below.**

*Chapter 10: At Least Now I Can Say That I Am Trying*

* * *

Quite a while later, Mitchie finally rolled off of him and cuddled up to his side with a smile. "My boyfriend's a fairly good kisser," she murmured.

"Fairly good?" Shane exclaimed in disbelief. "Nuh uh, Shane Gray does not do things half way."

"Okay, so maybe you're amazing," she admitted. "I just didn't think you needed an ego inflation."

Shane laughed and gripped her closer to him. "You've made me one very happy guy tonight, Mitchie."

"Back at you, super star," she smiled.

They were quiet for a moment, and then Mitchie heard the rumblings of laughter echoing through Shane's body. "I can't believe you thought I'd just forget about you after camp. Like that's even possible."

Mitchie blushed. "Well, you've got this whole life out there waiting for you, Shane. Your band, your fame, your fans, your label. I'm sure you've got lots of celebrity friends to get back to, and I didn't think you'd want some girl from the suburbs anymore."

Shane shook his head. "Not like that at all, Mitch, haven't you been listening to me the last couple of weeks? Nate, Jason, and I, we keep to ourselves a lot when it comes to hanging out with famous people. I mean, it's great to get to know everyone, and they're all decent people and it's fun sometimes, but the three of us would much rather be lazy and normal than be huge party boys. That's why it was so refreshing to meet you – you're easygoing and fun to be around. And you're so much better than any of those people anyway, you make it easy to be myself and don't make me feel like I have to be something I'm not. You make me feel like it's okay to just be Shane."

"It's more than okay," Mitchie whispered, raising her head from his chest to kiss his lips. "I enjoy this deeper side of you."

"You saying I'm shallow?"

"Only on a regular basis," she smiled at him. "To everyone else, at least. Why do you let everyone think that, anyway?"  
"Let them think what?"

"That the most important thing in the world to you is your basket of hair products."

"Who says it's not?" he caught the glare she was sending him and laughed. "Because it's easier that way. People will believe what they want to believe, and, as surprising as it is, I like to keep my private life private. By neither denying nor encouraging any rumours, I usually succeed in doing so. Unfortunately, it also makes me seem like more of an asshole than I typically am."

"Yeah, well, your behaviour helps the stereotype along too. Not so much a rumour anymore," Mitchie laughed.

He just shrugged. "I don't even care what they all think anymore, Mitchie. When you're famous, the love and hate from the general public comes and goes so quickly that you have to learn not to worry about it. I mean, I'd never do anything to seriously jeopardize the band, at least not on purpose, but these stupid daily obsessions they have with Connect 3 are ridiculous and just not worth setting the record straight for. So because I won't talk to the media about any of it, they just paint me as even more of a jerk than I act."

"Which then makes you even madder and perpetuates the stereotype again?" Mitchie guessed.

"Exactly," Shane shrugged. "So it's better to just ignore it the best I can, and let things slide whenever possible. It's easier to let people think they know me than to have to share a lot about myself to make sure they actually do."

"Makes sense, in some really weird, twisted, pop star logic, I guess," Mitchie smiled. "I'm happy you don't put up that side of you when you're with me, though, because I'm pretty sure the rock star's pretty face would be all black and blue from getting slapped so much."

"You really are abusive, aren't you?" Shane scoffed. "But at least you're helping to keep me in line," he laughed.

Mitchie laughed too. "Hey, what are girlfriends for?" she teased, loving the fact that she could say that to him. "Someone's gotta help out the egotistical superstars in the world."

Shane smiled and then turned serious. "Seriously, though, thank you for all your help with the song."

"No problem, it was kind of flattering to have a hand in the process, actually. So what time are you meeting Jason and Nate at?"

"After supper," Shane said vaguely. "Actually, about that … I was wondering if you'd come with me tomorrow night."

Mitchie's brow furrowed. "Me? Why?"

"Because I want you there. I need the moral support."

"They're going to love the sound, Shane."

"Maybe, maybe not," he answered. "But I feel a little strange about how I've acted around them too. I feel really bad about it, to be honest. I mean, I've talked to them and it seems like things are okay, but I also want you there because I want to introduce them to the girl who changed me."

"I didn't do anything except knock some reality back into you," Mitchie grinned. "But, yeah, of course I'll go with you. If you're sure, I mean. I really, really don't want to intrude."

"You won't be," Shane promised, kissing her on the top of her head. They lapsed back into silence for a while, before Shane asked, "So what was that with Tess earlier?"

"What do you mean?" Mitchie evaded.

"You told her you had to practice because you sucked, Mitch, which is not true. But you put yourself down to get her to back off, when you could have just said you were busy or had something to do. Why would you do that?"

Mitchie was somewhat uncomfortable talking about her feelings and behaviour toward Tess, even to Shane. She realized he wouldn't let it go, though, and answered, "Because it got her to back off. I knew you wanted to talk to me, and I wanted her gone. She's been asking me a lot of questions lately about where I've been, and they're easier to deflect if I say something negative about myself, because we both know she thrives on putting others down to boost her own ego." She looked down at the ground and just played with Shane's fingers intertwined with her own.

Shane just stared at her face for a long moment, before finally saying, "Look, I'm sorry if you don't want to talk about it, but I'm just trying to understand this. I mean, it's obvious to me that you can't stand the girl – which I agree with you on, by the way – but yet you still put up with her shit. I know you're an amazing singer, Mitch, so why are you just singing backup for her? I've been wondering this for a while, but haven't wanted to bring it up. But now I'm getting worried about you, because you seem to be retreating into the background when it comes to her. I just want to know why you let her treat you like that when you would be so amazing on your own."

"Maybe I'm not ready to step out on my own, did you ever think about that?" Mitchie snapped, pulling away from him and sitting up with her knees pulled up to her chest. "We can't all be fearless rock stars, Shane."

Sighing, Shane sat up beside her. "Bullshit, Mitchie," he said softly, without a hint of malice in his voice. "I may not have heard you sing anything besides this song before, but I know from your writing skills that you've got a lot of talent in you. I also know you're trying to evade the real answer here, but I'm not going to push you. Just know you can talk to me when you're ready."

Suddenly feeling horrible at having pushed Shane away like that, all Mitchie could do was reach down and grab Shane's hand, whispering, "I know."

They stayed at the beach a while longer, light conversation flowing easily between them. Eventually, they put the blanket away, doused out the fire, and headed back toward the boat. The wind whipping her hair as they crossed the lake, it was all Mitchie could do to keep her eyes from watering. The one person that she was quickly growing to trust and open up to was there for her, but she couldn't talk to him about one of the biggest things she'd been worrying about lately. How was she supposed to tell him she was worried about being fake, and put everything in the right perspective without divulging the truth about her mother? It was impossible, and so the next best option was to snap at him and make him back off.

Nothing seemed to be amiss between them as they walked hand in hand back to the cabins, though, and kissed each other goodnight. Still, Mitchie knew Shane could sense something was off, and given what she'd learned about him so far, she didn't think he'd be giving up on finding out what was going on any time soon.

* * *

Later the next day, Shane decided it was finally time to have a legitimate talk with Brown. Taking a deep breath, he walked over to where his uncle sat reading on the couch. "Brown?" he asked, watching as his uncle raised his head and quirked his eyebrow. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Talk?" Brown responded. "Or complain some more?"

Shane shrugged and trudged over to sit in a chair across from Brown. "Talk about why I've been complaining so much, I guess."

Brown looked at him in surprise. "What happened to it being all about you?"

"It still is," Shane joked. "Just a little bit differently now. I know that you've been taking me to the island and that you encouraged the guys to send me here in the first place because you're worried about me getting in so far I won't come back. And I know I've been pushing you away, and I want to apologize for my behaviour toward you."

"Seriously?" Brown asked softly, leaning forward to rest his forearms on his knees.

Shane nodded his head. "I get it, you know? I get why you're so worried, because I am too, to be honest. But I've felt so alone for so long, Brown, except for the guys, that when I was thrown back here and you were being all mother-hen-like, I didn't know how to deal. It's been too long since I've allowed myself to depend on family, and I'm really sorry I took that out on you and forgot that you've been there for me every step of the way."

Brown stared at him for a moment, taking it all in. Shane watched him nervously, shoving his hands into his pockets. He hadn't necessarily meant to get into such a deep conversation, but he knew he owed Brown some kind of explanation for his behaviour toward him. His uncle was the only one who had always been there for him, and his behaviour had been uncalled for.

Finally, Brown spoke, jolting him from his thoughts.

"Glad to see you're finally coming around, Shane," he said softly. "You had me really worried that little boy who loved music was disappearing forever."

Shane shook his head, relieved. "Always been here, Uncle Brown. Just got a little lost along the way."

"Finding your way back have anything to do with Ms. Torres?" Brown teased.

"You mean my girlfriend?" Shane smirked at the look on his uncle's face. "Yeah, she might have had a little bit of influence on the change."

"Girlfriend?" Brown asked in surprise. "Thought you were gonna turn into one of those lifelong bachelor types."

"Take after my uncle, maybe?" Shane grinned. "We made it official last night. And yes, I think she's had a little bit to do with this."

"And what's 'this'?" Brown asked curiously.

Shane took a deep breath. "I've been writing a lot lately, you know that. And last week, I called the label and gave them an idea of the new sound I've been playing around with. They pretty much shot me down right away, because they don't want us deviating from the pop stuff we've been doing so well with lately."

"What's wrong with that?" Brown cut in.

"It's not us anymore," Shane shrugged. "Hasn't been for a while. The music we loved when we started out has become unrecognizable after going through the label's purity machine so many times, and we, or at least me personally, are so sick of it that I just started to lose my mind. So the label rejected the ideas I told them about, and Mitchie called me on it when I started taking out my frustration on the kids in my classes. She encouraged me to finish the song anyway, and when I went all pessimistic about what good it would be, she came up with kind of a brilliant plan."

"Oh?" Brown asked, sitting back with an arm along the couch and quirking an eyebrow at his nephew again.

Shane nodded enthusiastically. "Nate and Jason have always thought the same thing as I do about our sound, but they've managed to keep themselves in check a lot better than I have. Mitchie suggested I get together with them and go over the song and my ideas, and if they're receptive, we should organize a surprise performance to get the song out there so the label can't restrict us."

Brown was quiet for a moment, and Shane just waited for his reaction. "It's a really good idea, I'll admit that," Brown said finally. "But have you thought this through, Shane? Really thought it through I mean? Because your label reps are not going to be impressed that you guys are going behind their backs on this one."

"What other choice do we have?" Shane exploded, shaking his head. "I know that, okay? But this is in the early stages, and I need to sit down with the boys and work it out. And I was actually kind of wondering if you'd let me go meet them tonight?"

"Tonight?" Brown asked in surprise. "Where at?"

"A little studio a friend of Nate's dad owns in the city. We don't want to go anywhere big in case the label gets wind of it. I really feel like we have to get started on this, Brown. I haven't been this inspired in a long time, and I'm worried that if we wait until camp is over, it'll never happen because the label will run us ragged to make up for missing the tour this summer. I'm hoping you can provide me with a little bit of freedom to do this?"

Brown appeared thoughtful for a moment. Finally he leaned forward again, making Shane nervous with the serious stare directed at him. "If it stops you from being such an idiot," Brown said. "Then I don't see how I can say no." He grinned at the look of relief spreading across Shane's face.

Laughing, Shane said, "Scared me for a minute, Brown. But really? You don't mind me just taking off? I mean, you've been so adamant that I not knock off camp activities…"

"This little talk has left me somewhat satisfied that if I let you use my car tonight, you actually will come back with it."

Shane rolled his eyes. "I'm not _that_ bad," he scoffed.

"Shane, a week ago I would've chained you to a tree before I'd have let you take my vehicle and leave camp, because we both know you wouldn't have come back."

"Probably not," Shane admitted with a shrug.

"But I'm putting my stock in Mitchie having changed you, Shane, and I'm going to trust you to go tonight. And actually return, too," he laughed.

"Yeah, well, thanks for the faith," Shane joked. "I also needed to ask you, is it okay if Mitchie comes with me? I know she'd need your permission because she's a camper and all."

Brown's eyebrows shot up. "Are you serious?"

Shane furrowed his brow. "Yes," he said slowly. "Why? Does she not need your permission?"

"That's not it," Brown said with a wave of his hand. "You do realize how very unlike you it is to want to bring in someone from the outside, right? I don't think I've seen you ready to willingly share this side of yourself in a really long time."

"I know," Shane said quietly. "But nothing about my relationship with Mitchie seems normal, because everything really _is_ normal with her. It's easy to forget everything and just hang out like a normal kid."

"You're not a normal kid, Shane," Brown reminded him needlessly.

"But what's wrong with needing to feel like I am every so often? I don't want to be surrounded by people who only care about using me."

"No, no, I agree," Brown said quickly. "I wasn't saying that to make you think you shouldn't hold on to that. I said it to remind you that Mitchie is the average person, and you're not, and I don't want to see you lose sight of that and wind up hurting her."

Shane was surprised at his uncle's words. "I won't," he promised. "I mean, it's really early in our relationship, and yeah, I haven't known her all that long, but I know enough to tell you that you're wrong, because she's not average. She's kind of been my support system lately, which is part of why I want to bring her with me tonight."

"And the other part?"

"I want the guys to meet her," Shane said, looking down in embarrassment. "They've heard me talk about her obviously, and they're like you – pretty skeptical about me letting someone into our world. I want them to meet her so they know she's not like all the people who try to use us for the status."

Brown smiled at his nephew. "God, you've changed," he said softly. "And if Mitchie will help make this side of you stick around, I can't really deny you two anything, can I?"

"So she can come?" Shane asked, excitement evident in his voice.

"As the owner and operator of Camp Rock, I give my permission for both you and Ms. Torres to leave camp tonight for as long as you require to get your damn head back on straight."

Grinning and ignoring the insult, Shane got up and walked over to wrap his arms around his uncle in a hug. As Brown hugged him back tightly, Shane said his thanks. "Just don't put me through all this again," Brown whispered back seriously.

Shane just smiled as he pulled away from his uncle. "I'll do my best," he promised. "I'm gonna go find Mitchie and let her know, okay?"

Brown nodded. "Come find me for the keys later on."

"Alright, we'll probably leave right around supper time; it's a little bit of a drive to the city."

"Just let me know," Brown said as he sat back down and Shane waved goodbye before exiting the cabin.

* * *

A/N: Some more Smitchie cuteness, and Shane legit talking to Brown. Yay :) Sorry for most of this so far being really dialogue-heavy; it's important to actually give more depth to all of these relationships though. And there's been quite a bit of foreshadowing going on, if you've been paying attention to subtle hints.

I know things are going slowly, and there hasn't been much drama so far, but trust me when I say there's a LOT of it coming up several chapters from now. Honestly, this story is still in the intro stages right now. I feel like I need to spend time building up Shane and Mitchie's relationship in order for the drama that's coming up to make any sense. And Nate and Jason are also coming up in 2 (maybe?) chapters, and I'm taking a different path with their characters too. So this is all about making you guys comfortable with the characters right now, before I throw in twists and turns and screw up their lives a little bit :) haha, kidding … kind of …

Also, **VERY IMPORTANT**: I know I said it above and changed the summary already, but the rating has been changed to **M**. This is for mature themes (_way_ in the future), and I don't want to give away specifically what that entails, but I did want to give you all an early heads up. In general, moderate sexual themes, some substance use, and some really strong language.

Lastly: loving your comments! I'm sad I can't respond to all of them, but clearly I love to talk, so TWEET ME! I'm: LadyKacey Or tell me your twitter name so I can actually answer some of the stuff you say in reviews haha.

Chapter title is from "Sowing Season (Yeah)" by Brand New.

March 10, 2010


	11. Calm Your Nerves Now,Don't Worry,Breathe

*Chapter 11: Calm Your Nerves Now, Don't Worry, Just Breathe*

* * *

As he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked down the stairs, Shane felt extremely light-hearted. He felt as though he'd made some headway in his relationship with his uncle, and he was beyond ecstatic that he'd gotten permission for both he and Mitchie to leave camp that night. Heading up the trail toward the campers' cabins, he was hoping to catch Mitchie on her own. It was mid-morning, and Shane knew she'd already had one class, meaning she was now on a break before she would attend his own. He wandered around aimlessly, and finally gave up on finding her himself. Sitting down on a bench on the edge of the woods overlooking the water, he pulled out his phone and sent Mitchie a text.

_Where are you at?_

His mind drifted off for a few moments before he was brought back to reality by the buzzing of his phone. Flipping it open, he read her answer. _With Caitlyn outside the practice room. What's up?_

_Stay there, I'll be there in a sec._ Shane snapped his phone shut and hurried up the path toward the practice cabin, getting more and more excited the closer he got. Coming out of the woods and into a small clearing, Shane saw Mitchie lounging on a picnic table with Caitlyn sitting beside her, playing music from her laptop. The girls were nodding their heads along with the music, and talking quietly as Shane approached.

Mitchie's eyes lit up when she saw him. "Hey, rock star."

"Hey, jerk," he teased back. "Hey, Caitlyn," he directed at her.

Caitlyn looked at him in mild surprise. "Hi, Shane," she responded.

"What's up?" Mitchie asked, staring questioningly at her boyfriend. "You got here in record time, what's the rush?"

Shane rose an eyebrow. "How do you know where I was coming from?"

Mitchie laughed. "I don't, but I know that _here_ is where the campers are, so I know you weren't anywhere close."

"Think you know me well enough to make those assumptions?" Shane laughed.

"Damn straight," Mitchie said saucily.

"Who _are_ you?" Caitlyn burst out, directing her statement toward Shane.

Shane turned to her with a confused look on his face. "I'm Shane Gray," he said slowly, enunciating every syllable. "I'd think even you'd know that, Caitlyn Gellar."

Caitlyn looked at him in surprise. "You know my name?" she asked.

Shane rolled his eyes. "We went to camp together for years, Caitlyn. Of course I remember you, even if we never really hung out."

"So Shane Gray does remember the little people," she smirked, crossing her arms.

"Only the ones who made an impact," Shane said mysteriously.

"What does that mean?" Caitlyn asked, confused.

Shane just shook his head with a smile. "Joke, Caitlyn, never mind." He turned to Mitchie, who'd had an amused smile on her face throughout the whole exchange. "So, I talked to Brown," he began.

"Really?" Mitchie asked, sitting up and feeling instantly nervous.

Before Shane could respond, Caitlyn stood up and snapped her laptop shut. "I'll let you two talk, and I'll see you in class, okay, Mitch? Actually, I guess I'll see you both in class, although I'm sure you'll go back to ignoring my existence, Shane."

Shane could tell she was somewhat joking, and was surprised to find he actually wasn't upset by someone feeling comfortable enough to do that with him. "Of course," he grinned. "Glad you've caught on, Gellar."

She just rolled her eyes. "You're an idiot." She began walking away, and Mitchie yelled goodbye to her as she disappeared down a path.

Shane jumped up onto the picnic table beside Mitchie, leaning forward to rest his forearms on his legs. "So he gave me permission to take his car tonight," he said, turning to her with a smile. "And he also gave his permission for you to peel and come with me."

"Really?" Mitchie exclaimed, immediately feeling both excited and nervous.

"Yeah, isn't that great?" Shane answered, excited as well. "And I didn't even have to sell my soul to get him to agree. He also didn't give us a time to be back; he just said that if taking off to meet with the boys makes me stop behaving like an idiot, he's pretty much going to give me free reign."

Mitchie laughed. "Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one kicking you in the ass about your behaviour."

Shane just rolled his eyes and ignored her comment. "I figured we'd leave around supper time because it'll take a little while to get to the studio in the city. Does that work for you?"

Mitchie nodded, her excitement growing. "Yeah, that's fine. I'll need to tell my mom, of course," she said without thinking.

Shane shot her a weird look, and she panicked as he asked her why.

She shrugged, trying to cover up her slip. "You know we're close, I tell her everything. I just want her to know that I won't be at camp, in case something happens. I like to keep her updated."

"Oh, okay," Shane said, smiling at her. "It's cute that you're so close with your family."

Mitchie blushed. "Are you close with yours?" she asked, genuinely curious because he never really talked about them.

"Not really," Shane said vaguely. Before Mitchie could ask him anything else, he jumped off the table and turned around to offer her a hand. "Want to go for a walk?"

Mitchie looked at him curiously at the sudden change of topic, but chose not to push the issue. Instead, she reached out and grabbed his hand. "Okay, but I'm not going for very long, because the instructor I have next gets insanely angry over little things, and my being late might set him off."

"What if you had a good reason, though?" Shane asked as they started off on a path toward the playing fields in the woods.

Mitchie grinned as she jogged ahead of him. "Well, I personally don't think I have one," she laughed.

He rolled his eyes and ran to catch up with her. "What are we doing?" he asked after a few moments, when they were starting to make their way around the outside of the baseball field.

"Running," Mitchie answered simply.

"Um, yeah, I get that, thanks," Shane retorted, panting. "I want to know _why_ we're running. Pretty sure I asked if you wanted to go for a walk."

"I was planning on going for a run anyway. Then you showed up and I figured I should see what you've got in you," she grinned.

"Oh, it is _on_," Shane laughed with a gleam in his eye as he sped up to pass Mitchie. The two of them ran a few laps around the field, finally agreeing to do just one more. Shane pulled ahead near the end, but Mitchie put on a burst of speed at the last moment, coming first over what they'd designated as the finish line. Panting, she threw herself down on the grass, Shane soon collapsing face down beside her.

"I feel gross," she said after a moment, breathing heavily.

"And class starts in about ten minutes," Shane groaned, rolling over onto his back and throwing an arm over his eyes.

"You so better not work us hard."

"Of course I will. You students have to work hard while I kick back and relax," Shane teased her, and suddenly found himself being poked in the side.

"If I'm working hard, you damn well better be, too," she threatened.

"Or what?" Shane raised an eyebrow, turning his head to stare at her.

"Or I'll tell your friends tonight how much of a mushy guy you really are," she grinned, leaning over to give him a kiss.

"Not much of a threat, babe. They're the only ones who actually already know that."

Mitchie pretended to think for a moment. "What if I withhold making out, then?"

Shane groaned and leaned over to kiss her quickly before sitting up and pushing himself to his feet. "Then I will do anything you want," he promised, helping her up.

She giggled as she stood and the two of them started walking toward the cabin where dance classes took place. "Thanks for running with me, though, I needed it."

"How come?" Shane asked.

"I run when I'm nervous or scared," she admitted quietly.

"What are you scared of now?"

"Nothing, I just ran all the nerves away, remember?" Mitchie joked. She leaned over and kissed him quickly, before hurrying ahead of him down the path. "I'll meet you in class!" she yelled back at him, before she took off at a run again.

He just grinned at her retreating back, slightly confused as to her explanation for the run. He was worried about her, because obviously something was bothering her, but he tried to put it out of his mind, knowing he'd have plenty of time in the car that night to get her to open up. He ran his hands through his hair a few times and slowed his pace to calm his breathing down before he neared the cabin. He wasn't sure why he and Mitchie had seemed to silently agree not to flaunt their relationship, but he kind of wanted to figure out for himself where things were going before he had to put up with everyone else's questions.

Running at full speed all the way to the dance cabin so as to put as much distance as possible between herself and Shane, Mitchie burst into the cabin panting and exhausted. Smiling nervously at all of the curious gazes that had turned to her upon her entrance, she scanned the faces, sending a quick look in response to Caitlyn's questioning glance before moving over to sit with Tess, Peggy, and Ella.

"Why do you look so disgusting?" Tess exclaimed as soon as Mitchie sat down.

Mitchie laughed it off. "Just finished a run, didn't have time to change or get cleaned up before class. I figured we'd just be getting sweaty anyway."

Tess cocked an eyebrow and sent her a derogatory look. "Clearly you don't care what Shane thinks about you," she stated. "Otherwise you would have put some effort into your appearance."

Mitchie glanced over the outfits the three of them were wearing: heavy makeup, done-up hair, and skimpy clothes. "I don't think Shane sits here and judges everyone, Tess. He's egotistical, but he doesn't care at all about campers or average people, no matter what they look like. I really doubt he cares what I wear to class."

"Of course that's what you've convinced yourself. I would have too if I'd shown up looking like you," Tess said in a fake conciliatory voice. "And since we can't possibly know what he thinks about or who he likes, why don't we just do things my way?" she smirked.

Mitchie had to hold back a laugh, because she was pretty sure she knew exactly who Shane liked. She was saved from commenting when Ella finally broke into the conversation, though.

"You know, you're both kind of right," she said, with a timid look at Tess. "We can show up looking great, but soon we'll all be looking as sweaty as Mitchie anyway."

"Or," Peggy cut in. "We could just each do whatever we want, because Shane Gray definitely does not care as much as we think he does."

Mitchie silently agreed with Peggy, even though she was as surprised as the other two at her sarcasm. It was rare for Peggy to speak out like that, but before Tess could retort, the door opened and Shane walked in. Still wearing baggy gym shorts, Mitchie saw that he'd slung his sweatshirt over one shoulder, and appeared to have regulated his breathing to the point where it no longer looked as though he'd been exercising.

"Excuse the appearance and the tardiness," he said, moving to the front and tossing his sweater on a speaker. "Rock stars often get lazy and don't want to get out of bed," he joked, gazing around the room.

Mitchie laughed at his explanation for why he'd fallen short of keeping up with his image. She giggled a little extra at the excitement of the girls around her at hearing Shane mention the word 'bed'. Tess, especially, looked adoringly at the new look he was sporting, and Mitchie rolled her eyes at Tess now being mesmerized by a look she'd criticized on Mitchie not five minutes earlier. She shot a grin at Shane as he began talking to get class started.

After class, Tess told her lemmings she had to go speak with her mother about her impending visit, and took off with her cell phone in hand. Mitchie found out from Ella and Peggy that they would be practicing for their instrument classes, and would eat lunch later, and so she said goodbye to them and headed toward the meal hall with her stomach grumbling loudly from all of the exercise. A moment later, she heard footsteps behind her, and turned to see Caitlyn running up the path.

"Hey, Cait," she greeted her.

"Hey, yourself, Little Miss Athlete," Caitlyn joked. "At least I hope it was athletics that you and the boyfriend got up to that made you show up in that state."

Mitchie laughed. "I raced him around the field a couple of times, and I won," she said smugly.

Caitlyn rose an eyebrow. "You kicked his ass in something, and he was actually in a good mood in class? God, maybe you are changing him."

Mitchie hit her friend lightly on the shoulder. "So, apparently Brown gave us both permission to go tonight," she began, but Caitlyn interrupted before she could continue.

"Seriously?" she exclaimed. "Dude, you're totally going to be alone with all of Connect 3 tonight! I'm so jealous!"

Mitchie gave her an odd look. "Um, since when are you a fan of Connect 3?"

"Since always!" Caitlyn laughed. "I've always enjoyed their songs, I'm just not a crazy-obsessed fan."

"But you've never fawned over Shane like everyone else."

"I think we've established that I'm a smart enough person not to behave like that for some celebrity who in my opinion does not deserve his status because he has no appreciation for his fans or for all that he has in front of him."

Mitchie rolled her eyes at Caitlyn's rant. "Okay, so does that mean you're a fan of the other two?"

Caitlyn nodded. "Well, obviously their songs more so than the boys themselves. I mean, after being around them for so long at camp, it's just kind of interesting to follow their careers and keep up with what they're doing."

"Yeah, it is kind of awesome that they started right here at little old Camp Rock and made it so big so quickly," Mitchie said, staring around at the peaceful atmosphere of the camp.

"I know, and that's part of why I guess you could say I like their music."

"Come on, you just think one of them's cute," Mitchie said. She was only joking with the thought that had come out of nowhere, so she was very surprised when Caitlyn blushed. "Oh, my God, you do!" Mitchie laughed.

Caitlyn shook her head. "No!" she exclaimed. "Yes, they're good-looking, but I don't have some fan-girl crush on any of them, okay?"

"Hey, as long as it's not my boyfriend, you can like whichever one you want."

"Thanks for the permission, Mitch. But let's backtrack for a minute," Caitlyn said quickly, as they were nearing the meal hall where several campers would soon be within earshot. "What's the plan?"

"We're leaving around supper time, I guess, because Nate's dad's friend's studio is pretty much in the heart of the city."

Caitlyn sighed. "Okay, well please enjoy every second of it for me, and remember every detail to tell me later."

With a small laugh, Mitchie pushed open the door to the hall and walked toward the food table, saying, "I don't think it's going to be that big a deal, Cait."

Her friend rolled her eyes. "Okay, let's talk again in a few hours when you're freaking out."

* * *

Caitlyn's prediction turned out to be true. Over the course of the afternoon, Mitchie's nerves steadily increased. She made her way through her theory and guitar classes essentially in silence because she was so scared of what would happen that night. She showered quickly before making her way to the kitchen to speak with her mother and get her approval to leave camp. After succeeding at that, she headed back to her cabin to get ready.

Around 5:00, after classes had ended, and everyone had changed and made their way to the meal hall, Mitchie found herself alone in her cabin. Sitting on her bed, she was just pulling her shoes on when her phone vibrated.

_Got the keys, heading to the car. You ready?_

_Yeah, I'm just leaving my cabin now so I'll meet you by the garage._

Mitchie took a deep breath to calm her nerves as she stood up, grabbed her purse, and left the cabin. To her distracted mind, the walk seemed very short to the garage behind the meal hall, which housed all of the camp's mechanical equipment and the staff's personal vehicles. Nearing the side door of the garage, she saw Shane come from around the corner of the meal hall, and leaned against the wall of the garage to wait for him.

"Hey," he said softly, leaning over to give her a quick kiss when he reached her.

"Hey, yourself," she smiled, watching as he opened the door and held it open for her.

Turning toward a sleek black SUV near the front of the garage, Shane took Brown's keys out of his pocket and held them in his hand, pressing the 'unlock' button on the keychain. He furrowed his brow when the lights on the SUV did not flash to signify it being unlocked. He pressed the 'lock' key, and both he and Mitchie turned around as they heard another car's horn honk.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me," Shane said in disbelief.

Even Mitchie had to laugh when her eyes landed on an old-school station wagon, complete with wooden paneling on the doors.

"He's so cruel," Shane grumbled as he moved to open the car door and climb inside as Mitchie did the same.

"I kinda like his sense of humour, actually," Mitchie looked amused.

Shane ignored her comment as he started the car and drove down the driveway, away from Camp Rock.

They drove for a while in silence, hands entwined on the center console. "So what's up?" Shane asked eventually, squeezing her hand to draw her back to the present. "You've been quiet the whole way so far."

"Nothing," Mitchie plastered on a fake smile.

Shane rolled his eyes. "Mitchie, I can tell when you're lying. Something's been off all day, right from the run this morning."

She looked away from him, shrugging her shoulders. "Don't worry about it."

"Hey," he said softly, tugging on her hand and glancing at her when she turned her head toward him. "Trust me?"

Mitchie couldn't help but smile. "Of course."

"Then tell me what's been bothering you all day."

Mitchie was silent for a few moments before taking a deep breath. "I suppose now would probably be a good time to tell you I'm a big Connect 3 fan?" she asked timidly.

Shane almost started drifting over to the side of the road as he stared open-mouthed at Mitchie, and she had to reach over and adjust the wheel to swerve back onto the road. He snapped back to attention, shooting her an apologetic look, saying, "Um, that was definitely an unexpected answer."

Mitchie just looked at him with a blush creeping across her face, so he continued, "And the fact that you're a fan of my band is terrifying to you, why?"

"Because after Caitlyn pointed out that I'd be alone with all of you, it got me scared!" Mitchie burst out. "What if they don't like me, or think I'm not good enough? It's bad enough to be rejected by your best friends, Shane, but the fact that they're celebrities just makes it even worse."

"Rejected? Mitchie, where the hell is all of this coming from?"

"I've listened to your music for years, Shane, seen you all on the news and in interviews. It's a little intimidating to think I'll actually be hanging out with all three of you alone."

Shane looked extremely amused. "You're star-struck!" he laughed as she punched his arm. "You've never been like this around me, why would it matter around them?"

Mitchie rolled her eyes in disbelief that her boyfriend could still be so dense after so many conversations. "Because your jerk personality in public already made me less a fan of you specifically than of your band's music as a whole. Because once you got here, our first few meetings were just as confrontational as I'd come to expect from you from the media reports. Because you're so different around me now that I forget you're some big hot shot. Because you've never treated me as though I'm worth anything less than you."

Shane looked genuinely confused. He'd understood her earlier points, although he hated to admit she had any, but the last reason was a strange one. "And you think they will?" he asked.

"No," Mitchie groaned. "From what little I know about you guys, it seems like they're the more friendly ones, actually. I'm just trying to tell you that I forget you're not like everyone else, but I feel extremely nervous about being around all of you together. Not only will I be meeting the other two biggest stars in the country, but I'm afraid I'll lose sight of Shane and start seeing Shane Gray the rock star."

"Baby," Shane said softly, turning his head to smile at her. "If you ever start treating me like everyone else does, I'll smother you with kisses until you shut up, because lately, you've been the only one able to keep me grounded."

Mitchie smiled and squeezed his hand. "Okay, so I know that it won't go quite that far," she admitted. "But I really am nervous about meeting your friends. You've talked a lot about how none of you trust easily. Why should they believe I'd be an exception?"

"Because I said so, and what I say goes," Shane said with a smirk. "Really, though, it won't be that bad. Honestly, you're the first one I've let in in a long time, and that in itself goes a long way toward breaking down their barriers."

"I hope so," Mitchie sighed, then turned to look at him again. "Do you think it would be okay to ask them for their autographs?"

Shane laughed. "I'm sure they wouldn't mind, but know they're gonna make fun of you for it once you guys become friends." He caught Mitchie's look, and squeezed her hand again. "And you will, I promise."

Trying to appear reassured, Mitchie squeezed his hand in return and shot him a smile, still attempting to mentally prepare herself for meeting the other two members of the country's most popular band.

* * *

A/N: Next chapter will be the introduction of Nate & Jason, which will then lead to a lot of drama, secrets, and confusion :)

Thanks for your reviews, they're wonderful! If we can get to 90-ish and you guys want it, I'll upload another chapter this weekend.

Chapters are also going to get longer from here on out, just to warn you all!

Chapter title is from "Take My Hand" by The Cab.

March 13, 2010


	12. I Believe in You, Will You Believe in Me

*Chapter 12: If I Believe in You, Will You Believe in Me?*

* * *

Around 7:00, a dark blue BMW sedan drove into an empty parking lot in front of a tall brick building in downtown Los Angeles. Jason Taylor got out from the driver's side, as Nate Clark climbed out and shut the passenger side door. After grabbing their guitars from the backseat, Nate pulled a set of keys out of his pocket as he neared the side door of the building, and Jason locked the car, following behind him.

"I still can't believe Shane is bringing this Mitchie girl with him tonight," Nate mumbled as he inserted the keys in the lock and turned it.

As they walked inside, Jason reached over and flicked on the lights in the entryway, while his friend punched in the code to disarm the alarm on the wall. "What's wrong with it?" Jason asked, puzzled.

Nate shrugged as he opened the door in front of them and walked through into a hallway off of the main lobby. "I didn't say it was a bad thing, Jase. Just said that I can't _believe_ it. It's really unlike him."

Jason followed Nate down the hall and into a recording studio at the back of the building. As the boys sat down in the production side of the studio and pulled out their guitars, Jason finally said, "It's really unlike all of us, Nate. Maybe it's about time we trust someone."

Nate looked up from tuning his acoustic guitar. "Why does she deserve it?" he asked point-blank.

Jason rolled his eyes. "I just think we should wait and see how tonight goes before we pass judgment is all. The fact that Shane's somewhat dropped the fucking cement walls he's built around himself for this girl means _something_, doesn't it?"

"Yeah…" Nate trailed off, not surprised at all by Jason's cursing. The topic of this Mitchie Torres girl had been a point of contention between them for a while, with both of them agreeing that although she'd been good for Shane so far, it was also frustrating because they were waiting for the other shoe to drop. In their experiences over the past four years, no one offered anything to them for free – not advice, not help, and certainly not friendship. They wanted to believe what Shane had said about Mitchie, but were scared of letting someone in, only to be sold out again.

"Seriously, Nate," Jason said, when his friend remained silent. "Let's give this a real shot tonight. I know you're always the serious one when it comes to the band, and I'm not saying you have to drop that image for this girl, but let's at least give her the benefit of the doubt until we have reason to do otherwise."

"Okay," Nate sighed, finally agreeing to agree with his friend. "You know I'm not trying to be difficult, though, right? It's just that this whole thing scares me. Shane's changed really quickly."

"And you're worried about his judgment?"

Nate shrugged again. "A little. It's nice to have him back, but it's almost too good to be true."

"If Mitchie had anything to do with the change, though, isn't it worth it to see what else she can do for us?"

Nate nodded. "You're right, Jase, I know that. I promise to be on my best behaviour tonight," he reached out to Jason with his left hand, pinky finger extended.

Jason just rolled his eyes and laughed as he completed the pinky promise. The boys went back to quietly strumming their guitars and making idle chatter, until they heard a loud knocking on the outside door.

Jason watched as Nate took a deep breath, leaned his guitar against the couch, and stood up. "Guess this is it," he breathed out, and walked down the hall to let Shane and Mitchie into the building.

* * *

The rest of the ride into downtown Los Angeles had passed quickly for Shane and Mitchie, as Shane enjoyed pointing out various sights to her, since she'd never been to the city before. Her face was practically glued to the window as they drove by the places she'd heard about and seen on television and in movies, and as they finally pulled off a quiet street and into an almost-empty parking lot in front of a brick building, it finally clicked with her that Shane was used to life in fast-paced L.A. It had been odd to see him so relaxed in the insane traffic jams, and so at ease with the complicated arrangement of streets, but she liked seeing every side of him she could.

As Shane parked the car next to the only other one in the lot, he reached over and grabbed her hand. He noticed she was almost shaking with nerves, and did his best to calm her down. "It's going to be okay, Mitch, I promise."

"What if they hate me already, just for intruding on your life or something?" she rambled nervously.

Shane laughed. "The fact that you've intruded on my life is what you have going for you right now, Mitchie. You've won some major points already because they know you haven't put up with my bullshit, when any other girl I would have met would have just accepted my attitude."

Mitchie let out a little laugh. "I hope you're right," she breathed, and he leaned over to give her a soft kiss on the mouth.

"You ready?" he asked, his forehead pressed to hers.

"Yeah," she said, forcing a grin and pulling away to open the car door. They both climbed out and he reached for her hand as they met in front of the car and walked toward the door. Mitchie grabbed the keys from Shane's hand and locked the car when she realized he'd forgotten to do so.

He looked at her in disbelief as they paused in front of the side door of the building, where Nate had instructed Shane to knock. "You really think that if someone wanted to steal something, they'd go for the station wagon instead of the BMW right beside it?"

With a laugh, Mitchie handed the keys back to him. "Didn't think you'd want to explain to your uncle Brown what happened to his car if we ended up needing to cab back to camp."

Shane smiled. "Always thinking, Miss Torres, always thinking." He turned toward the door and, with a squeeze of her hand, knocked hard on its surface.

They waited outside for a few moments before they heard another door open inside, and footsteps coming closer to the outside door. A moment later, they heard the metallic click of the door being pushed open from the inside, and it opened to reveal Nate.

"Hey, man," Shane grinned, as he held the door open for Mitchie to enter, following behind her and quickly pulling Nate into a hug.

Nate was surprised at Shane's actions, but returned the hug, saying hello to his friend. They pulled apart, and after Nate had made sure to lock the door behind them, he turned to the girl who had arrived with Shane. He was pleasantly surprised to see that she looked nothing like he'd expected – no skimpy clothing, no over-done makeup, just some skinny jeans and a ¾-length red shirt made of sweatshirt material.

Mitchie, meanwhile, had observed Nate's surprised reaction to Shane's hug, and was unsure what to make of it. She noticed that Nate wasn't wearing the mega-stylish clothing she was accustomed to seeing on him in the media; instead he was in loose jeans, a tight gray t-shirt, and an open blue plaid dress shirt, with Converse sneakers. As she was deciding the look worked on him, he finally turned to her and spoke.

"You must be Mitchie," he said in a neutral tone of voice, extending a hand out to her.

"Yeah, hi," she said nervously, reaching out to shake his hand quickly. She didn't like the appraising look he was giving her, although she'd tried to prepare herself for it.

"I'm guessing you obviously know I'm Nate," he said, as they dropped hands and he opened the inside door to the lobby to allow them to pass through.

"Yes, but thanks for clearing that up, because clearly Shane sucks at introductions," she said without thinking, then felt mortified that she'd let her sarcasm slip out ten seconds after having met Nate Clark.

To her surprise, Nate turned to her with his eyebrows raised and a genuine smile on his face. "He really does," he agreed, leading them down the hallway.

Shane groaned at his girlfriend and best friend. "You guys just met, there is no way you can possibly be ganging up on me already." He smiled to himself as he noted that it was probably a good sign, though.

Mitchie didn't respond as she took in her surroundings. They'd initially walked into a hallway to the side of a large oak desk with a wall behind it, and a large seating area in front of it. To their left was a hallway filled with doors and other hallways branching off of it, and at the end of the hallway was an open door with a light on inside. As Nate reached the door and walked inside, she felt Shane's arm wrap around her waist in support.

When they walked through the doorway, Mitchie saw a large room with producing equipment on the far side, where a glass window and door provided a view of a comfortable-looking recording studio. The room they were currently in held couches and chairs and a small table, and Mitchie had to contain her squeals at the sight of the first real recording studio she'd ever been in.

Her attention was drawn toward a tall boy setting down his guitar and standing up. Jason looked very much as she'd expected him to; wearing black skinny jeans and a loose white t-shirt with a black vest over top, she found herself inexplicably more intimidated by him than by Nate, simply because he looked the part of the big celebrity.

"Jason, this is Mitchie. Mitchie, Jason," Shane said, extending his hand toward each of them in turn before flopping down onto a couch. "See?" he smirked at Nate. "I can rock the introductions when I want to."

Nate rolled his eyes and sat down in one of the chairs across from Shane, as Jason turned toward Mitchie with a smile.

"It's nice to actually meet you," he said, also reaching out a hand to shake hers.

She took it in surprise; she hadn't been expecting such a formal greeting from Jason. He'd always been known as the goofy and fun-loving member of the group, and while she hadn't exactly been expecting a hug as a welcome, she hadn't really thought she'd be formally shaking hands with him either. "Nice to meet you too, Jason," she smiled warmly at him, trying to ease her nerves, before dropping his hand and sitting down next to Shane.

Jason sat back down in his chair to the side of the couch as well, and an awkward silence settled over the group for a few moments.

"Okay, this is weird," Shane said finally, sitting back up and blinking his eyes a few times.

That seemed to release a little of the tension, as everyone else visibly relaxed slightly.

"So how are you adjusting to the camp lifestyle, again, Shane?" Jason asked, obviously to break the silence, as he'd been talking to Shane several times since his arrival at Camp Rock.

Shane ignored that fact and replied, "It's getting better now," smiling at Mitchie by his side. "I've actually been really, really productive lately."

"Did you finish that song?" Nate asked, leaning forward in interest.

"Yeah, actually, we finished it yesterday," Shane said, nodding at Mitchie.

Jason's eyebrows rose in surprise. "You helped?" he asked her.

Mitchie nodded shyly. "Yeah, well he thinks I did, at least. I feel more like I just unscrambled his ridiculously confusing thoughts about what he wanted to say."

Jason laughed. "Thank God it wasn't one of us who had that job for once," he said, indicating Nate as well.

Shane glared at his band mates. "Very funny, guys. But yes, she helped me, but not just by helping with the lyrics. I was going to give up on the song a few days ago, after I'd heard from the label and before I called you, but she convinced me that was the wrong way to go."

"So we have you to blame if this direction doesn't work out?" Nate smirked at Mitchie.

She froze, staring at him, unable to form any words.

Nate saw her expression, and how Shane was wrapping his arm around her waist in support, and quickly dropped his expression. "Sorry, I didn't actually mean that how it sounded. I was just joking."

"You joke?" Mitchie snapped back, raising her eyebrows.

Nate was taken aback and let out a bark of laughter. "You're right, Shane," he said, looking at his friend. "She's definitely a good kind of different."

"I know," Shane said simply, tightening his arm around her waist as Mitchie turned toward him with a small smile.

"Really, though, sorry about that Mitchie," Nate continued, looking back at her. "I didn't mean to imply anger with you or anything."

Mitchie shook her head. "It's okay," she said, still smiling slightly. "If I hadn't gotten all surprised, I was just going to tell you you're wrong anyway. The song's good, and if you guys really take this as a step in a different direction, I can't actually see it not working out."

This time, it was Nate who sat frozen in surprise at her words, and it was Jason's laughter that broke the silence.

"Seriously, man, where did you find her?" he asked Shane, still laughing at Nate's expression. "I like your confidence," he added to Mitchie.

She let out a breath with a small laugh. "That's about all I have of it," she admitted, glancing from Jason to Nate to her boyfriend, whom she was slightly angry at for having been so silent and leaving her to fend for herself so far.

Nate shook his head. "I hope not," he said simply, before turning to Shane. "Ready to play us what you've written?"

Shane nodded, and reached down for his guitar, before it hit him that he hadn't brought it at all. "Shit, I left my acoustic at camp!" he exclaimed.

"It's cool, Jordan said we could use his instruments if we wanted to anyway," Nate said. "They're in the room down the hallway, second door on the left."

"Thanks, be right back," Shane said, as he stood up and left the room after giving Mitchie's hand a squeeze.

Mitchie had to fight back nerves as she sat alone in a recording studio with Jason and Nate of Connect 3. Although they'd been very nice so far, if not extremely welcoming, she was still intimidated by their very presence.

Jason must have noticed this, because he broke the silence that had settled by asking her a question. "How are you making out with camp, Mitchie? Shane said it's your first year there."

Mitchie nodded, glad to latch onto something to talk about. "Yeah, it is. I like it so far, because I'm learning more about music than I could have ever expected to. I went there thinking that maybe I'd get some practice in with my guitar or the piano, and some vocal training, but the lessons I've gotten in everything from music writing to dancing have all helped me out too. I feel like I'm going to leave camp this summer a whole lot surer of my music than when I started there."

She hadn't noticed Nate looking at her in surprise at her comments. "You play the piano?" he asked, and she nodded. "Shane mentioned that you played guitar and sang, but he never said anything about the piano. Do you write your own stuff?"

She nodded again, shyly this time. "I think that's kind of what started things off for Shane and I; that we were to talk about the struggles of writing songs."

Jason looked blown away. "Seriously?" he said stupidly.

Mitchie sent him an odd look. "Yeah, why?"

Nate answered for him. "Shane doesn't exactly share his music, Mitchie. Until songs are in their final stages, it's usually just me and Jason who even know they exist."

Mitchie blushed and looked down. "I don't know why he trusts me," she said softly.

Before either of the other two boys could respond, Shane came back into the room carrying two acoustic guitars. Mitchie looked at him in surprise as he handed one to her, and then sat down beside her with the other one.

"I was thinking you could play with me?" he asked her, motioning toward the guitar she now held in her hands. "Just like yesterday? It'll give them more of an idea of what I'm thinking."

Blushing profusely now at the thought of playing the guitar for two of the best guitar players in the music industry, Mitchie could only nod at Shane.

Shane grinned at her and reached over to squeeze her hand before settling his hands back on top of his own guitar. "Keep in mind this is obviously just the acoustic version. I can hear the final version with much more of a rock sound behind it."

"Okay, man, let's hear it," Nate said, sitting back in his chair and looking expectantly at them, as Jason did the same.

Shane looked at Mitchie and counted down. "4, 3, 2, 1…" and Mitchie began playing the beginning strums of the song, just as they'd done the day before. Initially, she only paid attention to her playing, but as Shane started to sing, she found herself looking over at him with a smile on her face. She knew he was happy to have finally completed this song, and even happier to be sharing it with people he knew would appreciate the effort, even if he was scared they wouldn't agree with the direction the music itself was taking.

As he started into the second verse and was still going strong, she found her gaze wandering over to Jason, who looked surprised but was nodding his head along with the music. She then turned toward Nate, who was looking at Shane was a small smile playing on his lips, looking deep in thought.

Before she knew it, they'd played through the entire song, and both she and Shane glanced over at Nate and Jason. She noticed her boyfriend's hands were shaking slightly as they rested on top of the acoustic, and knew he was nervous to hear their opinions. Subtly reaching over toward him, she pulled one of his arms down so she could grasp his hand in hers. He shot her a quick smile before refocusing his attention on his band mates.

They'd remained silent throughout the whole thing, although Mitchie had noticed them getting into the music. Finally, Nate opened his mouth, "You did really good work, Shane," he grinned.

"Yeah, man," Jason nodded. "I can't wait to dig into this and rock some guitar."

Shane let out a breath he hadn't even known he'd been holding. "So it was alright?" he asked, relieved.

Nate laughed, "Hell, yes, it was better than alright! Nice to hear some of that old sound creepin' back in."

"Is it ever," Jason mumbled in agreement. "This may be a happy song, but at least it isn't about unicorns and rainbows and puppy love like the rest of the shit the label makes us write."

Mitchie was surprised at his words, but didn't feel as though it were her place to add her input to the conversation. "Told you it'd be fine," she smirked at Shane playfully.

He squeezed her hand, letting her know he appreciated her help as he said, "Yeah, yeah, you're always right. Whatever."

"And don't you _ever_ forget it," Mitchie smiled. Turning to Nate, she asked, "Would you mind telling me where the washroom is?"

"Yeah, no problem," Nate responded, and directed her down the hallway.

After Mitchie had left to find the bathroom, Jason turned toward Shane with an eyebrow raised. "Well, she was unexpected," he said, confusing his band mates, who were trying to puzzle out his logic.

"What?" Shane finally asked, frowning at Jason's words.

"Well, I don't know about Nate, but I was expecting some idiotic fangirl who had brainwashed you into thinking you'd come up with something clever."

"Gee, thanks, Jase," Shane said, a bit hurt.

"He said that wrong," Nate said, rolling his eyes. "We just weren't expecting someone so talented and so…_normal_."

"Haven't I been telling you that for the past couple of weeks?" Shane asked, looking at his friends like they were crazy.

"Yeah, but your judgment's been off lately," Nate explained. "But she seems okay."

Jason nodded. "Definitely," he agreed. "I can see why you're starting to feel safe with her."

Shane smiled. "Um, I kind of asked her to be my girlfriend last night," he said, after realizing that he hadn't told them the news, wanting to wait until they were in person to do so.

He received blank looks in return, and had to laugh as they tried to work through the information.

"Seriously?" Jason asked yet again, disbelief written all over his features.

"Shane Gray has a girlfriend?" Nate asked, still looking at his friend in shock. "Like, a real one?"

"No, man, like a fake one," Shane rolled his eyes.

All three of them were silent as they waited for someone else to break the silence.

"You know what?" Nate said after a moment. "I'm starting to think this may be a good thing."

"Really?" Shane asked, and saw his friend nod. "So you're not pissed at me for bringing her with me tonight?"

Nate opened his mouth to answer, but at that moment, the door to the studio opened, and Mitchie walked back in.

She stopped just inside the doorway, her hand still on the doorknob, when she noticed that all three of the boys had frozen in spot, Jason and Shane staring intently in Nate's direction. "Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt," she said, feeling awkward and beginning to retreat.

"No, don't worry about it," Shane said quickly, motioning for her to come back into the room.

She shut the door and walked over to the couch to sit down beside Shane, her nerves back in full force as all eyes landed on her. "So what now?" she asked, breaking the silence.

"I think me and Jase need to work on getting what's done so far," Nate suggested. "And we should probably also start thinking about other instruments and what we need to do for the background beat."

"Why don't you and Shane start working on that, and I'll have Mitchie teach me the chords she just played?" Jason said.

Shane nodded and kissed Mitchie on the temple before standing and opening the door into the recording room, Nate following behind him. They sat down inside and immediately bent their heads together over the notebook Shane had pulled out containing the written music for his song.

Mitchie's eyes followed Shane's movements in the other room as she grew nervous realizing she'd be working alone with Jason. He moved over to sit next to her on the couch, carrying his guitar with him.

"Alright," he said, propping his guitar on his knees. "Let's tear this up."

Mitchie giggled a little, mentally slapping herself for doing so, and took a deep breath before teaching him the chords, starting at the beginning of the song. As they worked their way through it, she found herself relaxing in Jason's presence, pleasantly surprised at how quickly she was feeling comfortable with him. Time flew by as she taught him, and their dialogue flowed easily.

Eventually, Mitchie was jolted out of an intense conversation with Jason when she heard the door to the recording room open, and looked up to see Shane and Nate coming out. They looked exhausted, and Mitchie glanced down at her watch, shocked to realize so much time had gone by. Shane walked over and plopped down in the chair to her right, and Nate did the same across from him, running a hand through his hair with a sigh.

"How'd you guys do out here?" he asked, looking from Jason to Mitchie.

"Great, actually," Jason said, grinning at Nate. "We tweaked it a little to make the shift from acoustic, and it still needs work, but I like where it's going. I can work on it some more tomorrow."

"What about you guys?" Mitchie asked, feeling brave enough to question them on their progress.

"Pretty good," Shane said, glancing over at Nate. "Taught him the rough guitar part, and came up with a few ideas for adding in the drums. Still needs a lot of work on our end though, not to mention throwing everything together."

"Well, yeah," Mitchie said, throwing Shane an odd look. "You guys should know better than anyone that this stuff doesn't just fall together."

Nate laughed. "We're more used to only reaching a certain point before the label takes it out of our hands, Mitchie. While we've always finished things for ourselves before, this is one of the first times we'll get to go all the way through with it for the public."

"We don't want to screw it up," Shane added, looking serious for once.

Mitchie nodded in understanding. "Does that mean you're going to do it, then?"

"I think it would be a good move," Nate admitted, sighing again.

"And it is a wicked song, man," Jason said, leaning across Mitchie to bump fists with Shane, who laughed.

"Thank God you guys think so, because I probably would have killed you if you'd hated it after all the work I put in."

"And then I would have had to hear about it all the way back to camp," Mitchie added. "So thanks from me too."

The boys all laughed at her, and it made her feel a little better to see Jason and Nate starting to slightly relax around her. Jason, especially, had been decent to her during their guitar work, but she hadn't spent much time with Nate, and was unsure where she stood with him. She was pulled out of her thoughts when Shane stood up, however.

"I think it's time we head back, it's getting late," he said, glancing down at Mitchie, who nodded and stood up as well.

The four of them left the room and moved down the hallway toward the outer door, where Nate spoke up again.

"I think we need to work pretty intensively on this if we want to get it out there by next week," he said, reminding Mitchie of how business-like he'd always seemed in interviews.

"Next week?" she asked, surprised that they wanted to perform it so soon.

She saw Shane nod. "Yeah, Nate and I talked about it, and as long as it's okay with you, Jason," he glanced at his friend, "we'd like to do this as soon as possible, which we figure is next week. Summer's almost half over, meaning I'll be back from camp in a little over a month, and it's better to do this far in advance of having to face the label and be back to obeying their commandments."

"Works for me," Jason said, nodding his head. "We've got a lot of work to do, though," he sighed, running a hand over his face and blinking his eyes widely.

"Yeah, any chance you can get back here tomorrow, Shane?" Nate asked.

Shane nodded slowly. "Yeah, I think so. Brown seemed like he was willing to give me quite a bit of freedom in order to pull this off. I'll talk to him when I get back, but I'm pretty sure it'll be fine."

"Just text and let us know," Nate told him, and turned to Mitchie. "Can you make it tomorrow, as well, Mitchie?"

She was completely taken aback and just blinked at him for a moment. "Um, yeah, sure … I mean, if you really want me here?" she questioned him with a furrowed brow, and missed the look of pleasant surprise on her boyfriend's face as well. "I don't want to just hang around and annoy you guys or anything."

"Are you kidding?" Jason raised an eyebrow. "It's been productive tonight, and you played a major part in that. We'll see you tomorrow," he said definitively, and to Mitchie's surprise, he came over and wrapped her in a tight hug. She hugged him back quickly, as he backed away with a smile.

To top things off, she just about fainted when Nate came over and did the same. "Thank you, Mitchie," he whispered into her ear before pulling away without any further explanation.

She furrowed her brow in his direction; he was a complete enigma to her – one moment very business-like and withdrawn, the next friendly and interesting to talk to. She assumed that the latter was more indicative of his true personality and that he was simply withdrawn with her because she was unfamiliar to him, and so she appreciated his goodbye and thanks that much more, even if she had no idea what she'd done to deserve them.

The boys said goodbye to each other, and Mitchie followed Shane outside as Nate shut the door behind them.

"So that wasn't too bad, huh?" Shane asked as they climbed back into the station wagon.

"Jason Taylor and Nate Clark just hugged me," Mitchie said in disbelief, turning toward her boyfriend, who just grinned and leaned over to kiss her quickly.

"And Shane Gray just kissed you," he smirked.

Mitchie just blushed and looked down at her hands in her lap. "Sorry," she muttered.

"Don't be, you're cute when you're star-struck," Shane said as he started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

This seemed to jolt Mitchie back to herself, and she groaned. "Oh my God, was I really that bad?"

He laughed again. "You weren't, actually. A little more subdued than normal with the wisecracks, maybe, but…" he trailed off as she punched him on the arm.

"Well, aside from the fact that I was so damn nervous, I didn't know if they'd appreciate my joking with them."

"Why not?"

She shrugged. "It's kind of an indication of familiarity, isn't it? I didn't want them to think I was going in there assuming we'd be all BFF or something."

Shane grinned at her. "You worry about the strangest things," he shook his head. "I can't believe you were even star-struck in the first place; I'd have thought you were used to being around celebrities because of your mom's job."

Completely caught off guard, Mitchie could only stare at Shane in return. "Well, um," she cleared her throat, thinking fast. "She's over in China, so I don't really get the chance to be around them that much. Plus, when I go there, it's a lot of celebrities that we're not familiar with here so they don't really have an effect on me."

"I guess," Shane brushed off her response. "But you really are gonna have to get used to Jason and Nate."

"Hey, um, can we stop for food? I only ate a snack before we left," Mitchie said, needing to change the topic.

"Yeah, definitely," Shane agreed.

They argued briefly over where to eat, before Mitchie won and directed Shane into a drive-thru. They ordered and soon had their food, eating as Shane steered them out of LA and through the darkness onto the highway.

"You did well with the song, Shane," Mitchie said after they'd been driving for a while.

"Thanks, could you tell I was nervous?"

"A little, but you covered well," she laughed.

Grinning in thanks, Shane changed the subject and commented, "So it looked like you and Jason were doing well together."

Mitchie's eyebrows furrowed. "Yeah, actually, it was pretty easy to work with him."

"You sound surprised."

"A little, yeah," she admitted. "Not that I thought he'd be difficult to work with or anything – or that I'd be working with him at all, actually – but I thought he'd be kind of … airhead-y," she glanced at him with a sheepish look.

Shane's eyes shone knowingly. "Surprised he's got a serious side?"

"I had _no_ idea," Mitchie answered. "What was that about?"

Shane shrugged and turned serious. "He does behave really juvenile most of the time, don't get me wrong. But there's also this other side of him, this incredibly serious, hard-working side, that he covers a lot. It comes out when he's concentrating really hard on figuring something out, or when he trusts someone enough to show himself."

"What do you mean?" Mitchie asked, sensing a shift in the tone of the conversation.

"He does it to protect himself," Shane said quietly, staring ahead of him at the road. "The goofiness, I mean."

"From what?"

"You know I have my own trust issues, obviously." Mitchie nodded. "Well, they've also been through a lot in that department. The stories are theirs to tell, and I wouldn't be surprised if you win them over and hear them for yourself pretty soon, but suffice it to say that he kind of withdrew after everything he went through. He's a good guy, but he just finds it easier to deal with everything if he acts like the goofball. He's more untouchable if he doesn't let himself get involved and fazed."

Mitchie was quiet for a moment. "Makes sense, at least based on the super extremely vague explanation you just gave me."

"Sorry, I know it's not much information," Shane sighed. "I'd tell you if I could."

"No, it's cool, and I totally get it," Mitchie assured him. "I just had no idea things could be so difficult for you guys; everything always seemed great when you did interviews. Except with you, of course," she gave a small smile, attempting to lighten the mood.

It partially worked: Shane glanced her way with a tiny smile, but his face was still set with a serious expression. "That's kind of the point though – we're not exactly supposed to let fans and the media know if something's wrong. Especially not if they're the ones who helped caused the problems in the first place," he added darkly.

Mitchie reached over and squeezed his hand gently. She hated seeing him in pain when he talked about how much fame had changed his life, sometimes for the worse. "But it's all worth it in the end, right?" she asked finally, searching his eyes.

Shane was silent for a while, before he sent a look at her. "Sometimes," he said, squeezing her hand in return.

* * *

A/N: We finally met Nate and Jason! Please tell me your thoughts on them? :) And some more hints/foreshadowing about issues coming up!

I know a lot of you are really anxious for the lie to come out, but trust me, there's a plan for this. It was mentioned in this chapter that there's a little over a month left of camp, I'm figuring about 5-ish weeks, and it's going to be at least a couple of weeks before the he finds out. There's honestly a lot that is going to happen before that point, probably at least as many chapters as there have been so far, so I'm sorry that you'll have to wait a while for that drama!

Thank you all for your reviews, please keep them up! **Cate** – glad you're liking the songs! Also, **TheSunday** – I have plans for the story to go past Final Jam, but because of its length, I'm not sure if it'll end up as a sequel, and it also depends on interest.

Tweet me if you have any questions!

Chapter title is from "Kangaroo Cry" by Blue October.

March 14, 2010


	13. Life Is Waiting For You

*Chapter 13: Life Is Waiting For You*

* * *

Shane slept well that night, and woke up the next morning when he heard his uncle moving around in the kitchen, making coffee. He rolled himself out of bed and made his way to the kitchen, not bothering to change.

His uncle looked up as he entered and smiled hello. Wordlessly, he handed Shane a cup of coffee and leaned back against the counter, sipping his own, as Shane plunked down in a chair. "You got back late last night," he observed.

Shane nodded. "Yeah, sorry. We lost track of time."

"How'd it go?"

Brown watched as a grin spread across his nephew's face. "Really well," Shane answered. "The guys liked what I had already, and we talked a little about how to mess around with it. Mostly we just taught Nate and Jason the music, though."

"Glad to hear that," Brown said, genuinely happy to see his nephew's love of music returning. "What about their reactions to Ms. Torres?"

Shane's face turned serious as he thought for a moment before speaking. "Not bad," he said slowly. "I mean, the guys were just as reserved as I expected at first, but they seemed to lighten up a bit by the end, and even hugged her goodbye. She and Jason worked on the guitar stuff last night, so hopefully the one-on-one time put them both at ease a little more." Shane stared off into space, deep in thought about the night before, until he finally shook himself out of it and looked up to find his uncle smiling at him. "What?"

Brown shrugged. "It's just nice to see Mitchie lumped in with the boys into the 'people Shane Gray cares about' category."

Shane rolled his eyes. "You're a sap."

"No," Brown disagreed. "It's just relief at the realization that you actually still have a heart in there somewhere."

"Thanks for the faith," Shane pouted.

"So how close are you to finishing?"

"Nowhere near it," was the answer as Shane slumped against the chair. "I wrote it on an acoustic, and even though I've imagined how it'll end up, it's gonna take a lot of work to get the finished product."

"When are you aiming for?"

Shane ran a hand through his hair with a sigh. "We're thinking late next week, hopefully."

Brown's eyebrows rose. "Ambitious. Why so soon?"

"Because summer will be about half over, and we need to get this out there before the three of us are back under the label's direct supervision. The sneaking around is easier now, when they expect me to be here at camp under your ever-so-watchful eye."

"You're assuming I'll allow you to keep leaving," Brown stated.

"Yes," Shane said without hesitation. "I mean, not that I expect it in the sense that I'm demanding it of you, but in that I feel like you're going to help me out on this."

Brown inclined his head in acquiescence. "And I probably will," he conceded. "How often will you need to go?"

Shane thought for a moment. "Potentially every day, depending on how productive we are. It's just that with the time frame we've given ourselves, we've gotta work pretty intensively."

"Make sense," Brown nodded. "You already know I'll let you go, but know that I'm putting a lot of trust in you, Shane."

Shane nodded seriously. "I get that. And, um, not to ask for even more here, but what would you say about Mitchie coming with me?"

"Every time?" Brown's eyebrows rose to his hairline.

"Maybe, I'm not sure. It was the guys that invited her back for tonight, which I'm happy about, so I wouldn't be surprised if she ended up seeing the whole thing through with us."

Brown ran a hand over his face in surprise. "God, this girl's wormed her way in fast, hasn't she?" he muttered.

"And you think that's bad?" Shane asked, surprised.

"No, no," Brown assured him, holding up a hand. "It's just one thing for you to trust her so easily – which is shocking enough on its own – and for them to ask her to help out."

"I know," Shane smiled.

Brown sighed. "Yes, she can go with you whenever you need. Just think about one thing here: what explanation is she going to give for her absences? Because I'm pretty sure the truth will wind its way back to your reps, even from here."

"Damn it," Shane groaned. "Never thought of that."

"Yeah, well, you better start," Brown advised, turning toward the sink and rinsing out his coffee cup. "And you also better start getting ready, or you're not going to have time to grab breakfast before your class."

Shane's eyes widened as he glanced at the clock. He stood up and went to put his cup in the sink as Brown moved toward the door. "Hey!" he suddenly yelled, turning around to look at Brown through the screen. "Can I drive the SUV?"

Shane heard his uncle snort as he walked around the deck and descended the stairs. "Keep dreamin', kid!" he yelled. Rolling his eyes, Shane just sighed and walked back to his room to get ready for the day.

* * *

Mitchie woke up early that morning, feeling content after getting a solid sleep. She looked around the cabin as she sat up, and was unsurprised to see that Peggy, Ella, and Tess were all still fast asleep. Rising quickly and getting dressed quietly, she let herself out of the cabin shortly afterward. She took her time walking through camp, making her way toward the cafeteria. She was still a little in shock about the events of the night before – namely, that Nate and Jason had invited her to return with Shane. She'd been shocked that they'd even suggested it, based on how stand-offish they'd been, Nate especially.

Nate was like an enigma to her; he'd been just as polite and business-like as she'd expected, based off of what she'd seen from interviews. But she'd also expected to see a little bit of the fun-loving guy that Shane said always came out when he was with his band mates. She'd been extremely intimidated by the side of him she'd been met with, and although she hated feeling as though she was being judged, she had to grudgingly admit that she understood both his and Jason's apprehension. From their point of view, chances were extraordinarily high that she was just like everyone else who they'd brought in from the outside world who'd fucked them over. They had no reason to believe she'd break that cycle, but she made a promise to herself that she'd prove them wrong.

Mitchie snapped back to the present as she reached the back door to the kitchen and pulled it open. She was early, and so she wasn't surprised to see only her mother present.

"Morning, Mom," Mitchie said, startling her mother as she walked over to give her a kiss.

"Mitchie! You're early this morning, sweetie," Connie recovered and hugged her daughter with one arm as she continued to mix pancake batter with the other hand.

"Yeah, I was exhausted and got a good sleep, woke up earlier than usual for some reason. What do you want me to start on?"

Connie pointed toward the cold rooms in the back of the kitchen. "Can you start cutting up some fruit for the fruit salad? It's just going to be a simple breakfast this morning."

Mitchie smiled as she walked toward the cold rooms. "Simple? Mom, you spoil all of us with extravagant meals daily – you're allowed to do the 'quick'n'easy' breakfast thing too."

She heard her mother laugh. "Thanks for the permission, honey, and I'm glad you've been enjoying the food."

Mitchie just grinned as she brought out several different kinds of fruit and began to cut them up. After a few minutes of comfortable silence, her mother spoke up again.

"So how did last night go?" Connie ventured.

Mitchie couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as she gave her mother a rundown of how her night had gone, including everything from beginning to end.

"Well I'm happy for you," her mother said when Mitchie wrapped up, still staring at her daughter with a small smile of understanding on her face. "It's nice to see you enjoying being a part of the process with them."

"I actually learned a lot from them last night," Mitchie admitted. "I mean, they're nowhere close to having the instrumental arrangements worked out or anything, so there's a lot left to do, but I learned a lot about how they think and what their typical process is like. I'm really glad I found out how seriously they all take it, because obviously it'd be easy for them to just foist things off onto their production team and let someone else worry about the small parts."

"It does say a lot about a person when they're able to follow through," Connie agreed vaguely. "So you said there's a lot left to do?"

"Yeah," Mitchie said, finally dropping the knife and turning around to lean against the counter, facing her mother. "And actually, Nate and Jason invited me to go back with Shane tonight to continue helping them out."

"Really?" Connie's eyebrows rose in surprise.

Mitchie nodded. "Yeah, I know, it surprised me too, based on how they were acting. But I think I really want to go, Mom. I was in a _real_ recording studio last night, and it just made me want to learn more and more. Plus, I feel like I need to prove myself to Shane's best friends."

"Are you asking for my permission?" Connie caught on.

"Yes," Mitchie said simply.

Connie sighed, looking over at her daughter for a few moments before answering. "I know how important this is to you, Mitchie, and I know how important Shane is becoming. If Brown gives his permission for both you and Shane to leave camp, then you have my consent to go whenever you feel you need to. But keep me in the loop on this, Mitchie, and this is not a free ticket out of here whenever you feel like it. I'm trusting you to make the right calls."

Mitchie could only grin and squeal her thanks as she hurried over to her mother and pulled her into a hug. "You don't know how much that means to me, Mom, thank you!"

Connie just laughed and hugged her daughter back. "So when do I get to meet this boy who's changing your life so drastically?"

Mitchie stiffened immediately, and pulled quickly away from her mother. Connie didn't seem to notice her change in behaviour, however, and simply looked at her expectantly. Panicking, Mitchie decided to go with what any other teenage girl would say about a boy she liked. "Mom," she whined, rolling her eyes. "It's not cool to have your mom hanging around while you're trying to get to know a guy you like."

Connie laughed and immediately held up her hands. "Hey, you know I'd hate to be uncool," Mitchie rolled her eyes again, thinking her mother was spending too much time around Brown. "I'm just curious to meet this boy for myself. But I'll respect your wishes not to intrude right now, and I'll trust you to keep me apprised of the situation."

Mitchie grinned. "Thanks, Mom, you're the best. And I promise I'll tell you everything!"

* * *

Caitlyn nudged Mitchie's arm as they left the kitchen a while later. "So?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"So what?" Mitchie asked distractedly, thinking ahead to her classes.

"How did everything go last night? What was it like hanging out with Connect 3?" Caitlyn almost squealed.

Mitchie quickly reached up and clapped a hand over her friend's mouth. "_God_, Caitlyn, would you shut up?"

Caitlyn rolled her eyes and pulled out of Mitchie's grasp. "Oh yeah, I forgot you two have this weird secretive thing going on. What is with that, anyway?"

"I don't know, we've never talked about it," Mitchie muttered.

"Okay," Caitlyn said slowly. "So you're both weird, perfect! Now, moving on – how was last night?"

Mitchie had to laugh at her friend's excitement as they reached the vocal classroom and went inside. Seeing no one else present due to the still-early hour, they sat down and Mitchie responded, "It was interesting. And majorly intimidating."

"Really?" Caitlyn raised her eyebrows. "Why?"

"Jason and Nate weren't really what I expected," Mitchie said vaguely.

"Come on," Caitlyn rolled her eyes again, exasperated. "Would you just spit it out?"

Mitchie laughed. "They were just really reserved, that's all. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I figured I'd see a little bit of the lighter sides the media presents sometimes, or at least from Jason, given how shy Nate's always seemed. They were both really serious, though, and I knew I was being judged the whole time."

"Really?" Caitlyn had turned serious with disbelief. "That really surprises me, for both of them actually."

"I know," Mitchie sighed, "but I ended up working with Jason the whole time while Shane and Nate were in the other room, and it wasn't too bad. We were productive, and I got invited to go back tonight with Shane."

"You're going back?" Caitlyn asked, and saw Mitchie nod her head. Caitlyn just blinked. "Well, obviously they're more accepting of you than you thought."

Mitchie opened her moth to respond, but the door opened at that moment, and students began pouring in.

Caitlyn shot her a look, and simply said, "I want to hear details later," before moving to join Barron and Lola, as Mitchie sighed and stayed in place to wait for Tess.

The day passed exceedingly slowly by Mitchie's standards. She'd forgotten her phone in her cabin that morning, and didn't have a break from classes until lunchtime to pick it up. This resulted in her being completely out of contact with Shane, which she figured was probably a good thing, given the classes he had to concentrate on teaching, but she still felt strangely cut off. She didn't have hip hop with him on Wednesdays, so she knew she probably wouldn't see him until that night.

Finally, lunchtime arrived, and Mitchie walked to her cabin with the intention of grabbing her cell phone. Just as she was nearing the cabins, Tess caught up with her and shrieked about needing to practice immediately. Not wanting to make Tess angrier than she already inexplicably was, Mitchie had no choice but to play backup to the queen for her lunch break.

* * *

Mitchie was only vaguely less apprehensive when they pulled into the studio's lot again later that day and repeated the process, knocking on the door and waiting for Nate to let them in. The initial greetings were only slightly less awkward than the previous day's meeting. Mitchie was still unsure where she stood with Jason, given his serious demeanour the day before – a clear indication of his effort in assessing her trustworthiness. She hadn't gotten to work with Nate at all the day before, or even speak with him for very long, and she'd realized he would be the harder of the two to get to accept her.

Nate still kept up his business-like attitude with Mitchie while they exchanged greetings and all sat down, but consciously tried to force himself to drop his walls in order to make an effort at being friendly and calm her down.

"So, Jase and I were talking today, and we think we really need to figure out the best way to kick in the drums," Nate said, leaning back against his chair.

Shane nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, I've thought about it, too. You start yet?" he questioned Nate, who shook his head.

"Nah, figured we'd better tackle that together."

"You want to play?" Shane asked, furrowing his brow.

Nate shook his head again. "I want guitar," he said decisively.

"So we're going to pull Kyle in," Jason spoke up.

Shane's eyebrows rose to his hairline. "Seriously? You guys know I love the kid, he's a good friend to us, but he is employed by the label … can we trust him?"

"No," Jason said quickly, surprising Mitchie with his swift answer. "I mean, not that we can't, but let's not chance it. This is a major move we're making, guys, and I don't want it leaking before we get the chance to pull it off."

Silence met his words as each of the people in the room was lost in their thoughts. The boys were all contemplating the huge step they were taking, and what the potential ramifications could be, while Mitchie was looking from one to the other and growing worried.

Shane shook himself out of it first. "Let's get this shit done first, then we'll worry about the politics we're getting into. Sound good?"

"Sure does," Jason said happily, sitting back with a smile on his face, looking for all the world like the airhead he always came across as, instead of someone who just moments ago had stirred up important ideas.

"We'll worry about Kyle later, then," Nate decided, waving a hand. "It won't be hard to figure out; he has no reason to suspect anything anyway."

"Okay, so since we've made decisions to put off important decisions until later, what are we actually going to _do_ tonight?" Shane asked exasperatedly.

Jason shot him a look. "Um, try to add some drums in?" he asked in an obvious tone of voice. "Thought you were here for that part of the conversation," he muttered.

Shane rolled his eyes while Nate laughed. "Okay, smartass, let's get going."

The three of them bent their heads together over the notes that Nate and Shane placed on the table from the night before, and Mitchie sat awkwardly beside Shane, feeling distinctly out of place. Watching the three of them work together so easily, and hearing them throw ideas back and forth, she wondered why Jason and Nate had even wanted her to return with Shane again; they clearly operated perfectly well on their own, and despite her original efforts on the song with Shane, she knew it was in a hell of a lot better hands at this point.

After a little bit of discussion, Nate suddenly hopped up from his seat and motioned for them to follow him into the recording half of the studio. As they filed in after him, they watched him seat himself behind a drum set and pick up the drumsticks.

"This seriously just popped into my head and I want to try it out," Nate said, by way of explanation, before starting in on a beat.

Shane and Jason nodded along thoughtfully, and when Nate finished, he looked at all three of them, and asked, "What do you think?"

His band members shrugged, saying that they'd thought it was good.

As Nate's gaze landed on Mitchie, however, she blushed and looked down.

"Mitchie?" he asked, sensing an unwillingness to speak on her part.

"It was good," she looked up, trying to reassure him.

Nate frowned. "Truth please."

Mitchie blushed even harder as she willed herself not to look away from his gaze. "Okay, fine, but that was the truth. It was good. I just think it should be faster, with kind of a harder beat. This is a fun song, right? Shane's always described what he imagines to me in a certain way, and it makes me think of it being one of those songs that's just relentless with driving home the background beat. What you played _was_ good, Nate, I just wonder if maybe if you sped it up and hit it a little harder, if it would fit with the electric guitars a little better."

All three boys looked at her with their eyebrows raised. "Where did _that_ come from?" Jason blurted out.

Shane grinned at her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders as he drew him to her to kiss the top of her head. "Now you see how she's pushed me to even get this far."

"Definitely," Nate finally spoke up, looking at Mitchie as if seeing her for the first time. "I see your point," he directed at her, and she lifted her embarrassed gaze to look at him. "And I think you're right, actually."

"Really?" Mitchie squeaked out. "I mean, I wasn't trying to step on any toes or act like I know more than you do or anything –"

Nate cut her off. "Hey, we invited you back here because you were a huge help last night. If we didn't want any more of your input, you'd still be at Camp Rock," he assured her.

Mitchie snorted. "That could be taken as slightly offensive, but I'm choosing to take it as a compliment."

The boys all laughed at her, and Nate said, "Good, because that's how it was meant."

Mitchie blushed a little bit at Nate's words, and was unsure how to respond. Luckily, Jason spoke up.

"Okay, I like where this drum thing is going, let's keep up this work ethic, guys," he clapped his hands together. "And girl," he quickly corrected himself.

"Nice catch, man," Shane laughed as Nate stepped out from behind the drum set.

They all trudged back into the outer room and huddled back around the papers, Nate jotting down notes as they talked things through. This time, Mitchie participated just as much in the conversation as the boys did, and she felt much less intimidated.

After a while, Jason threw himself back onto the couch. "I'm tired," he proclaimed with a frown.

"Me, too," Shane yawned. He reached over and rubbed the back of Mitchie's neck when she leaned against the couch next to him.

"Call it a night, then?" Nate suggested, running a hand through his hair with a sigh.

"Yes, please," Mitchie also yawned. "I don't know how you guys get through making a whole album without passing out daily from exhaustion!"

The boys laughed. "Usually we're not stupid enough to try to put together and produce a song in a week," Jason commented from his place on the couch, with an arm across his face.

"And not in just a few hours a night, either," Shane sighed. "I wish we could just work on this all day, it would make it so much easier, and we'd all be a hell of a lot less tired."

"Yeah, well, maybe that would've been possible, except you were a total asshole and we had to ship you off to camp," Nate snarked, earning a giggle from Mitchie and a glare from Shane.

"I resent that, but at least you're speaking in past tense," Shane smirked back.

"It's only been a couple of weeks, Shane. We'll see how long this lasts."

"Hey!" Shane exclaimed. "I'm offended by that! And this attitude adjustment is mostly Mitchie's fault, so it'll stick around as long as she does," he grinned at her as he hugged her closer.

Mitchie laughed. "You are so not putting this on me, Shane. I said I'd try to keep you in line, but if your attitude eclipses your ego, we're all screwed, and I don't want these two," she indicated Jason and Nate, "to hold me responsible."

Shane pulled his arm away from her and crossed them in front of him, pouting and scrunching up his face.

"Damn it, I have a missed call from Caitlyn," Mitchie groaned suddenly as she flipped open her phone.

"Caitlyn?" Nate asked immediately, and Jason and Shane quickly exchanged looks.

Mitchie, however, was oblivious as she stood up, punching Caitlyn's number into her phone. "Yeah, my best friend at camp," she said distractedly.

"Caitlyn Gellar?" Nate clarified.

That caught Mitchie's attention, and she sent him an odd look. "Um, yeah. Forgot I was supposed to let her know if I'd be back early enough to hang out. I'm just gonna go call her," she nodded her head toward the hallway, and Jason and Shane waved her off.

Nate simply stared at Mitchie as she left the room, shutting the door behind her. Shane sat staring at his hands, anticipating the outburst he knew would soon come from Nate.

He didn't have to wait long.

"What the hell, Shane?" Nate exclaimed, glaring daggers at his friend, and hurling a pillow at his head. "Why didn't you tell me your girlfriend's best friends with Caitlyn?"

* * *

A/N: It's been a while, huh? Two reasons: 1) Life got in the way (I graduated! Then moved, found a job, etc.), and 2) I've been completely unsure what to do with this story. Yes, it's been written for a long time, but because of that, my writing style has also changed to the point where I'm not sure how happy I am with this anymore. It's been pointed out to me that the story's been dragging, and while that was originally kind of my intention, to drag things out and involve readers with the storyline set up by the movie before fucking things up entirely, I'm not sure that's how I feel anymore. I've decided to continue with the way I'd already planned the story, but take out chunks of things that I don't think are needed anymore.

So, basically, this was a bit of a transition chapter. It concluded the meeting Jason and Nate thing, and set up the fact that Mitchie and Shane now have the freedom to do pretty much whatever they want. The adults have had their say, and now it's time for things to start getting a little messy. Anyone catch that Nate knows Caitlyn? Yeaaaaaah, let's see how that goes in the next chapter, entitled "We Open Up Unfinished Parts". Any guesses?

Thanks for all of your lovely comments – they're what made me come back and decide to try finishing this ASAP! Please let me know what you think about the chapter, it means a lot to me :)

I'm on twitter at LadyKacey if you want to ask anything/talk to me!

Chapter title is from "Life" by Our Lady Peace.

June 26, 2010


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